Clinical recording of pressure on the spinal cord and cauda equina

Abstract

Pressure on the spinal cord with the neck in the extended position for endotracheal intubation was recorded in eight patients with a narrow spinal canal due to cervical spondylosis. Pressures up to about 1400 mm H2O were recorded. Longitudinal skeletal traction with the tong placed frontally reduced the pressure on the spinal cord in all patients. When longitudinal skeletal traction was applied, the stress of the neck extension was probably in part transferred from the lower cervical spine where the canal was narrow to the upper cervical spine with the more spacious canal. Placing the tong for longitudinal skeletal traction frontally when performing endotracheal intubation is advocated in patients with cervical spondylosis and probably also in patients with injuries of the lower cervical spine.