Surgical Considerations and Neurological Outcomes in Ballistic Penetrating Subaxial Cervical Spine Fractures

Those with fully comminuted vertebral body fractures, in our experience, are more likely to collapse and be treated surgically. Our data suggests that surgery may have a benefit in improving neurological outcome in ballistic spinal cord injury, which stands in contrast to prior literature. In this population, we strongly consider surgical intervention in patients with active neuro-compressive pathology, structural instability, or severe kyphosis, though each patient must be considered in the context of their overall outlook and health status.