The authors present data from 150 cases of traumatic dorsolumbar spinal injuries operated on by Roy- Camille method. There was prevalence of male patients: 80%. The majority of patients belongs to the labour age group: from 20 to 50 years of age: 87.3%. The youngest was 16, the oldest: 71. The most frequent causes are labour accidents: 71.3%, fall having the highest percentage: 48.6%. The machanism of injury is compression with decreased vertebral body in height: 52%. There were extraspinal lesion in 13.3% of cases. Pain at the lesion level was found in 13.3% of cases. Pain at the lesion level was found in 100%- 91.3% of the patients had disturbaces; 82.7% these was hyposensibility under the level of the lesion, in 76.7% there was complete. In 66% fracture of the spine was found and 52% had dislocation. most often surgery was done in emergency. 82% had laminectomy, 94.7% had three spinal bodies fixed. Mean hospitalization: 9.6 days. 20 patients recovered from neurological funtions during hospitalization.
Spinal Injuries ; surgery

Intramedullary spinal cord schwannoma is rare tumors, occupies only 1 to 2 percents of all intramedullary tumors. The case of intramedullary schwannoma located in conus medullae, the very rare location for intramedullary schwannoma, is described. Clinical presentation includes flaccid paresis of lower extremities, disturbances of bowel and bladder, lost of superficial sensory and reducing of deep sensory, the "hanging area" of lost sensory was not noticed. The images showed the fusiform tumor within the conus medullae. The total removal was applied and the good motor recovery was more slowly and symptoms of disturbance of bladder and bowel were not improved at the time of two months after operation. Radical resection of intramedullary tumor is widespread inclination in the world. If the medulotomy is provided in right maneuver, it does not cause the significant damage of spinal cord as our thought and it can well result.
Neurilemmoma ; Spinal Cord

The authors presented the data from 73 cases of spinal cord surgery at Cho Ray hospital from 6/1994 to 6/1996. The incidence of different tomours was equivalent in male and female patients. The most frequent cases were Schwannoma (47.9%); the highest number of tumours was at the dorsal level (58.9%); the most frequent site was epidural (53.4%), higher than intradural and extramedullary (43.8%); the percentage of intramedullary tumours was very low (1/73 cases).
Spinal Cord ; Surgery