Early surgery improves peripheral motor axonal dysfunction in acute traumatic central cord syndrome: A prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of early vs. delayed surgical decompression on peripheral motor axonal dysfunction following acute traumatic central cord syndrome (ATCCS).

METHODS

Both axonal excitability testing and motor unit number estimation (MUNE) were performed in 30 ATCCS patients (early- vs. delayed-surgical treatment: 12 vs. 18) before operation and 28 healthy subjects. Axonal excitability testing was repeated 3-5 days and 1-year after operation, and MUNE was re-evaluated 1-year after operation.

RESULTS

Preoperatively, an obvious modification in membrane potentials was observed in ATCCS patients that mostly coincided with depolarization-like features, and MUNE further revealed reduced motor units in tested muscles (P < 0.05). Unlike delayed-surgical cases, early-surgical cases showed recoveries of most measurements of axonal excitabilities soon after operation (P < 0.05). Postoperative one-year follow-up demonstrated that greater motor unit numbers in tested muscles were obtained in early-surgical cases than in delayed-surgical cases (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

ATCCS has adverse downstream effects on peripheral nervous system, even in the early stage of ATCCS. Early surgical treatment can ameliorate both excitability abnormalities and motor unit loss in distal motor axons.

SIGNIFICANCE: Optimizing axonal excitability in the early phases of ATCCS may alleviate peripheral nerve injury secondary to lesions of upper motor neuron and improve clinical outcomes.