ArticleCase reports in orthopedics2013
"White cord syndrome" of acute tetraplegia after anterior cervical decompression and fusion for chronic spinal cord compression: a case report.
Article in Case reports in orthopedics, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- "White Cord Syndrome" as clinical manifestation of the spinal cord reperfusion syndrome: a systematic review of risk factors, treatments, and outcome.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Pooled it
- "White Cord Syndrome": A Reperfusion Injury Following Laminectomy and Spinal Decompression Surgery-A Case Report and Literature Review.Case reports in medicine · 2026Article
- White cord syndrome: a rare and challenging diagnosis. Illustrative case.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2025Article
- Radiographic changes in delayed white cord syndrome from postsurgical cervical myelopathy: A case report and review of the literature.Radiology case reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- White cord syndrome: A rare complication of adequate spinal cord decompression. A case report and review of current literature.Brain & spine · 2025Review
- A Rare Case of Bilateral Foot Drop Following Cervical Decompression in Tandem Spinal Stenosis.Cureus · 2024Article
- Reperfusion injury case following cervical fusion with OPLL: a case report and literature review.Journal of medical case reports · 2024Review
- White Cord Syndrome Following Long Posterior Decompression.Journal of orthopaedic case reports · 2024Article
- White Cord Syndrome as a Rare Complication Post Cervical Spinal Decompression Surgery: A Case Report.Cureus · 2024Article
- Article
- EGFR-Activated JAK2/STAT3 Pathway Confers Neuroprotection in Spinal Cord Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: Evidence from High-Throughput Sequencing and Experimental Models.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Recovery from White cord Syndrome after Anterior Cervical Corpectomy and Fusion: A Case Report.Journal of orthopaedic case reports · 2023Article
- White Cord Syndrome: A Treatment Dilemma.Cureus · 2023Article
- Late‑onset white cord syndrome following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: A case report.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2023Article
- Authors' Reply to Letter to the Editor: Commentary on White Cord Syndrome: A Reperfusion Injury Following Spinal Decompression Surgery (Korean journal of neurotrauma · 2022Article
- Letter to the Editor: Commentary on White Cord Syndrome: A Reperfusion Injury Following Spinal Decompression Surgery (Korean journal of neurotrauma · 2022Article
- White Cord Syndrome: A Reperfusion Injury Following Spinal Decompression Surgery.Korean journal of neurotrauma · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Paralysis is the most feared postoperative complication of ACDF and occurs most often due to an epidural hematoma. In the absence of a clear etiology, inadequate decompression or vascular insult such as ischemia/reperfusion injury are the usual suspects. Herewith we report a case of complete loss of somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) during elective ACDF at C4-5 and C5-6 followed by postoperative C6 incomplete tetraplegia without any discernible technical cause. A postoperative MRI demonstrated a large area of high signal changes on T2-weighted MRI intrinsic to the cord "white cord syndrome" but no residual compression. This was considered consistent with spinal cord gliosis with possible acute edema. The acute decompression of the herniated disc resulted in cord expansion and rush-in reperfusion. We postulate that this may have led to disruption in the blood brain barrier (BBB) and triggered a cascade of reperfusion injuries resulting in acute neurologic dysfunction. At 16 months postoperatively our patient is recovering slowly and is now a Nurick Grade 4.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.