The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 61, Issue 3 389-392, Copyright © 1979 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Gunshot wounds of the spine: the effects of laminectomy
ES Stauffer, RW Wood and EG Kelly
In a review of 185 patients with gunshot wounds of the spine from
low-velocity missiles, 106 were found to have a complete lesion and
seventy-nine, an incomplete lesion. Fifty-six patients with complete
lesions underwent laminectomy and only one had a partial (sensory) return
of function. The fifty patients with complete lesions who had no
laminectomy also had no spontaneous improvement. There were forty-five
patients with incomplete lesions who had laminectomy and thirty-two (71 per
cent) of them showed measurable improvement. For comparison, thirty-four
patients with incomplete lesions had no operative treatment and in
twenty-six (76.5 per cent) there was some spontaneous return of neural
function. Four wound infections and six spinal fistulae developed in the
operative group (a complication rate of 10 per cent). Spinal instability
developed in six patients because of the laminectomies.
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