Combined anterior and posterior surgery for treatment of cervical fracture-dislocation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

To discuss the pathological characteristics of cervical spinal fracture complicating ankylosing spondyli-tis-(AS) and the effect of combined anterior and posterior operation. Methods: Eighteen AS patients with traumatic cervical fracture-dislocation were treated operatively from January 2000 to January 2006. The symptom duration of AS was 14.5 years on average. Three cases had undergone osteotomy in lumbar spine. There were 4 cases of Grade A, 3 cases of Grade B, 9 cases of Grade C and 2 cases of Grade D accord-ing to Frankel's score. There were 15 cases of Grade Ⅲ dislocation and 3 cases of Grade Ⅱ. All patients underwent surgical procedures by combined anterior and posterior approach.Results: There were 4 anterior-posterior procedures, 8 anterior-posterior-anterior procedures and 6 posterior-an-terior procedures. Seven patients had one stage operation and 11 cases underwent two stage surgeries. There was certain extent of neorological improvement in 14 incomplete paraplegic patients, but no improvement in 4 complete paraplegic patients. The follow-up period was 21.2 months on average and the time for bone fusion was 3.6 months. There were 4 complications during operation and a long-term complication in follow-up. Conclusions: The study suggests that anterior com-bined with posterior approach makes the spine stable and relieves the pressure immediately. It is a reasonable surgical strategy for treatment of cervical spinal fracture-dislocation with AS.