Although the possibility of cervical spinal cord injury by the impingement of the fractured lamina fragment into the spinal canal has been discussed by many authors, the actual clinical experiences were reported rarely in modern era, other than
the
two
cases, reported by De Barros and Mendosa, and Motomochi, et al.
The authors report the additional two cases from the experience of 72 patients with mid-or lower cervical spine injury. The levels of the lesions were a fifth and a sixth cervical vertebrae.
The neurological status were complete cord injury in one and Frankel C grade in the another. The diagnosis was possible by the findings of C-T scan, while the evidence of lamina fracture was absent in plain radiograph.
The treatment by posterior decompression and posterior plate fixation were performed. One patient with incomplete cord injury showed partial recovery from Frankel C grade to D grade, at one year after operation. But the patient with complete cord
injury
was dead at 4 weeks, post operatively due to pneumonia. The importance of examination by C-T of MRI in the patients with spinal cord injury was emphasized in the diagnosis of such injury.
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