Relationship of Neural Axis Level of Injury to Motor Recovery and Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with a Thoracolumbar Spinal Injury

• Published in: Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume 2010-07, Vol.92 (7), p.1591-1599
• Main Authors: Kingwell, Stephen P, Noonan, Vanessa K, Fisher, Charles G, Graeb, Douglas A, Keynan, Ory, Zhang, Hongbin, Dvorak, Marcel F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Female; Humans; Lumbar Vertebrae; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Motor Activity - physiology; Orthopedic surgery; Recovery of Function; Spinal Cord Injuries - diagnosis; Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology; Spinal Injuries - diagnosis; Spinal Injuries - physiopathology; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Thoracic Vertebrae
• ISSN: 0021-9355; 1535-1386
• DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.I.00512

BACKGROUND:Outcomes following traumatic conus medullaris and cauda equina injuries are typically predicted on the basis of the vertebral level of injury. This may be misleading as it is based on the assumption that the conus medullaris terminates at L1 despite its variable location. Our primary objective was to determine whether the neural axis level of injury (the spinal cord, conus medullaris, or cauda equina) as determined with magnetic resonance imaging is better than the vertebral level of injury for prediction of motor improvement in patients with a neurological deficit secondary to a thoracolumbar spinal injury. METHODS:Patients diagnosed with a motor deficit secondary to a thoracolumbar spinal injury, and who met the inclusion criteria, were contacted. Each patient had a magnetic resonance imaging scan that was reviewed by a spine surgeon and a neuroradiologist to determine the termination of the conus medullaris and the neural axis level of injury. Patient demographic data were collected prospectively at the time of admission. Admission and follow-up neurological assessments were performed by formally trained dedicated spine physiotherapists. RESULTS:Fifty-one patients were evaluated at a median of 6.2 years (range, 2.7 to 12.3 years) postinjury. The final motor scores differed significantly according to whether the patient had a spinal cord injury (mean, 62.8 points; 95% confidence interval, 55.4 to 70.2), conus medullaris injury (mean, 78.6 points; 95% confidence interval, 70.3 to 86.9), or cauda equina injury (mean, 88.8 points; 95% confidence interval, 78.9 to 98.7) (p = 0.0007). A univariate analysis showed the improvement in the motor scores after the cauda equina injuries (mean, 17.1 points; 95% confidence interval, 8.3 to 25.9) to be significantly greater than that after the spinal cord injuries (mean, 7.7 points; 95% confidence interval, 3.1 to 12.3) (p = 0.03). A multivariate analysis showed that an absence of initial sacral sensation had a negative effect on motor recovery by a factor of 13.2 points (95% confidence interval, 4.2 to 22.1). When compared with classifying our patients on the basis of the neural axis level of injury, reclassifying them on the basis of the vertebral level of injury resulted in a misclassification rate of 33%. CONCLUSIONS:The motor recovery of patients with a thoracolumbar spinal injury and a neurological deficit is affected by both the neural axis level of injury as well as the initial motor score. The resul