[Neurologic symptoms and their dynamics in contusions of the spinal cord of mild and moderate severity at the level of the 1st and 2d cervical vertebrae].

The results of the study of 154 patients with an acute trauma of the cervical portion of the vertebral column showed that fractures, dislocations and fractures/dislocations of the first-second cervical vertebrae accounted for 10.4% of all the studied cases. In mild contusion of the first-second segments the leading clinical symptoms in the acute period were pareses of the arms and paralyses of hands with retained reflexes and insignificant impairments of sensitivity in fingers, i.e., the level of clinical manifestations did not correspond with the conventional segmento-metameric innervation. In the acute period of contusions of moderate severity tetraplegia is formed, which, however, does not affect the reflexes. Timely elimination of the compression helps to restore motor activity and sensitivity first in the legs and the body and later in the arms. In the long term of the injury motor activity in the arms recovers and the leading clinical symptoms become manifestations of pyramidal deficiency with insignificant sensitivity disorders in the hands and feet, predominantly of a subjective-radicular nature.