Abstract

The purpose of this prospective observational study was to enumerate the MRI findings in patients with acute spinal trauma andtocorrelate them with clinical and neurological profile of the patients at the time of admission and discharge and predict their neurological outcome. The study included 40 patients and was conducted in the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Dr. S. N. Medical College Jodhpur, Rajasthan, between the periods of June 2014 to May 2015. When patient came for MRI in our department detailed motor and sensory examination of the patient was done graded according to ASIA impairment scale. Neurological status at admission and neurological recovery at discharge was compared with various cord findings on MRI. Results of our study showed thatcord hemorrhage was associated with worst neurological status at admission and poor neurological recovery on discharge. Cord contusion showed better neurological recovery than cord hemorrhage. Cord edema and normal cord was associated with favourable neurological outcome. Higher values of lesion length present with high grade of neurological impairment and poor neurological recovery. We conclude that MRI is an excellent modality of imaging in the diagnosis of cord abnormalities in spinal trauma. The cord findings correlate well with the neurological status of the patient.Cord hemorrhage, cord contusionand longer lesion have poor prognostic value in spine injury patients.

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