Turkish Neurosurgery
Surgical outcomes of subaxial cervical fractures in patients with ankylosing spinal disorder
ali ihsan ökten1, ali arslan1, ismail iştemen1, vedat açık1, barış arslan2, semih kıvanç olguner1, yurdal gezercan1
1adana city hospital, neurosurgery, adana,
2adana city hospital, Anesthesia and Intensive Care, adana,
DOI: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.31174-20.2

Aim:Ankylosing spinal disorder (ASD) causes the progressive ossification of the spinal column. The most frequent fractures in the spine in patients with ASD are in the subaxial, cervical, and cervicothoracic junctions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the patient groups with ASD in terms of patients’ characteristics, applied surgical approaches, and the outcomes. Material and Methods:Between 2008-2019, 50 ASD patients (35–80 years) were operated on subaxial cervical fracture. The mean follow-up time was 48 months. According to the surgical approach, the patients were divided into three groups: patients who only underwent anterior fusion [AF] group, patients who only underwent posterior fusion [PF] group, and patients who underwent anteroposterior fusion [APF] group. In this retrospective study, we examined the patients’ files and outpatient checks to evaluate the history, operations, neurological results, and complications in cases.Results:After undergoing respective surgical interventions, 1 of the 7 patients in the AF group (14%), 2 of the 18 patients in the PF group (18%), and 3 of the 25 patients in the APF group (12%) died. The postoperative American Spinal Injury Association scores were statistically better in all groups than in the preoperative scores. Among the surgical interventions, improvement in the APF group was significantly better than in other groups.Conclusion:Although there is a higher amount of surgery related complications in the APF group, the biomechanical and clinical results are better than the other two surgical interventions.

Corresponding author : ali arslan