Laminectomy Alone Versus Laminectomy and Fusion for Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Without Instability

Sponsor
Assiut University (Other)
Overall Status
Active, not recruiting
CT.gov ID
NCT05360524
Collaborator
(none)
42
1
2
43
1

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The aim of study is to compare clinical and radiological outcomes of laminectomy alone to laminectomy and fusion in the treatment of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury without instability.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Procedure: Laminectomy alone versus laminectomy and fusion
N/A

Detailed Description

Cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI) without instability tends to be caused by a hyperextension force to the neck. This type of injury has been increasing as the elderly population is dramatically increasing.

Although surgery has become the preferred method for management of traumatic unstable cervical spine injury, the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) without instability such as fracture, dislocation, and ligamentous injury, however, remains controversial.

Before deciding for surgical or conservative treatment, one should understand the pathophysiology of SCI. Traumatic SCI is dependent on primary damage, such as the dynamic mechanistic force and static pre-existing or concurrent cord compression, and secondary damage, such as edema, ischemia, and inflammation, which lead to demyelination of axons, apoptosis of neural cells, and glial scar formation in the spinal cord.

Advocates of conservative treatment believe that decompression is not effective here, because the compression may have existed before the injury in asymptomatic patients. Therefore, the symptoms develop after a CSCI without instability are probably not a result of the compression itself. On the other hands advocates of surgical treatment believe that decompression could prevent secondary cord damage due to the vicious cycle of "ischemia-edema-ischemia". However, faced with a patient with neurologic dysfunction MRI evidence of cervical spinal cord compression, decompressive surgery is a practical treatment option.

Since these injuries are stable, why to add fusion to laminectomy when it is possible to perform laminectomy only with expected less operative time, blood loss and restriction of neck motion (compared to laminectomy with fusion). Instrumented fusions also entail the risks of screw misplacement, pseudoarthrosis, distal junction kyphosis, and adjacent segment pathology.

Multi-level laminectomy compromises the posterior tension band and increases the mobility of the neck, resulting in post laminectomy kyphosis and potential dynamic injury to the spinal cord . In contrast, spinal instrumentation and fusion helps to eliminate movement at the treated levels and reduce spinal cord tension with less incidence of kyphosis.

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
42 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose:
Treatment
Official Title:
Laminectomy Alone Versus Laminectomy and Fusion for Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Without Instability: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Actual Study Start Date :
May 1, 2022
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Nov 1, 2025
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Dec 1, 2025

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Active Comparator: Laminectomy alone in patients with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury without instability

laminectomy only with expected less operative time, blood loss and restriction of neck motion (compared to laminectomy with fusion). Instrumented fusions also entail the risks of screw misplacement, pseudoarthrosis, distal junction kyphosis, and adjacent segment pathology.

Procedure: Laminectomy alone versus laminectomy and fusion
laminectomy only with expected less operative time, blood loss and restriction of neck motion (compared to laminectomy with fusion). Instrumented fusions also entail the risks of screw misplacement, pseudoarthrosis, distal junction kyphosis, and adjacent segment pathology. Multi-level laminectomy compromises the posterior tension band and increases the mobility of the neck, resulting in post laminectomy kyphosis and potential dynamic injury to the spinal cord . In contrast, spinal instrumentation and fusion helps to eliminate movement at the treated levels and reduce spinal cord tension with less incidence of kyphosis.

Active Comparator: Laminectomy and fusion in patients with traumatic cervical spinal cord injury without instability

Multi-level laminectomy compromises the posterior tension band and increases the mobility of the neck, resulting in post laminectomy kyphosis and potential dynamic injury to the spinal cord . In contrast, spinal instrumentation and fusion helps to eliminate movement at the treated levels and reduce spinal cord tension with less incidence of kyphosis.

Procedure: Laminectomy alone versus laminectomy and fusion
laminectomy only with expected less operative time, blood loss and restriction of neck motion (compared to laminectomy with fusion). Instrumented fusions also entail the risks of screw misplacement, pseudoarthrosis, distal junction kyphosis, and adjacent segment pathology. Multi-level laminectomy compromises the posterior tension band and increases the mobility of the neck, resulting in post laminectomy kyphosis and potential dynamic injury to the spinal cord . In contrast, spinal instrumentation and fusion helps to eliminate movement at the treated levels and reduce spinal cord tension with less incidence of kyphosis.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Neurological recovery. [3, 6 and 12 month after treatment.]

    It is assessed by the improvement (changes) in American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score). it is based on the motor function score of the 10 pairs of key muscles in the upper and lower limbs, with 5 points for each muscle and 100 points in total.

Secondary Outcome Measures

  1. Neck pain . [3, 6 and 12 month after treatment.]

    It is assessed by the 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS) score (neck).

  2. C2-C7 Cobb angle [3, 6 and 12 month after treatment.]

    C2-C7 Cobb angle< 10°

  3. C7 slope [3, 6 and 12 month after treatment]

    C7 slope <10°, the angle between the horizontal plane and the plane of the superior endplate of the C7 vertebral body.

  4. C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis [3, 6 and 12 month after treatment]

    C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis < 4cm, the anterior offset of C2 from C7.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
N/A and Older
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
Inclusion Criteria:
  • Patients with traumatic cervical spine cord injury admitted to Assiut University Hospital - Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery regardless of age, mechanism of injury or neurological status changes.
Exclusion Criteria:
  1. Associated cervical spine bony or ligamentous injury.

  2. Associated primary focal anterior compression of the cervical spinal cord (clear disc herniation).

  3. Associated head injury.

  4. Kyphotic cervical spine as measured by C2-C7 Cobb angle on X-ray.

  5. Previous surgery of the cervical spine.

  6. Patients who refuse to participate in the study

  7. Patients who are mentally incompetent or unable to comply with the one year follow up regimen

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 Faculty of Medicine Assiut University Assiut Egypt 199093

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • Assiut University

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Khaled Mohamed Hassan, Professor, Assiut University

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

Responsible Party:
Mahmoud Sayed Hamed Mohammed, Physician, Assiut University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT05360524
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • Laminectomy vs fusion
First Posted:
May 4, 2022
Last Update Posted:
Jun 29, 2022
Last Verified:
Jun 1, 2022
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
No
Plan to Share IPD:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
No
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Jun 29, 2022