Decapitated Man Regains Full Neurological Function

Physicians at the University of Mississippi Medical Center have performed a surgical procedure that has restored just about full function to a patient who was virtually decapitated.

Mark Barnett, 24, was an avid biker and on biking home from work, where he had just received a promotion and was in line for another one on September 6th. With just 3 miles to go, he was struck be a car, went through the car's windshield and by the time he came to rest on the side of the road, he was so badly beaten that many people thought he was a deer who had been run over.

The only thing he remembers is waking up in the hospital and being unable to move his right arm and both of his legs and just barley being able to move his left arm.

The impact from the accident was so severe that it dislocated the joint between his skull and cervical spine. In most cases like this, the patient does not live long enough to even make it to the hospital.

In this injury the connection is also broken between the brain and the spinal cord. In this case, the injury was hard enough to cause the injury, but not hard enough for a complete spinal cord injury. But statistically, he was decapitated.

When he first arrived in the emergency room, his neck was immobilized in a collar and he was intubated. They then took X-rays which showed the dislocation. They chose to do a bony fusion, known a as a arthrodesis. In this type of procedure, a Y shaped plate is anchored to a keel of bone located at the back of the skull, then it is screwed into the spine. Most of the time, the skull is connected lower down on the spine because it is an easier procedure. And the place where it should be connected, the first cervical vertebra is usually unsuitable because of its involvement in the accident.

But in this case, the dislocated joint was not damaged, so it could be used and they used a special plate to connect to the first cervical vertebra If it had not been, he would have lost much of his range of motion in his neck.

When the surgery is successful, the bone structure completely recovers. But that does not mean that the neurological function will return.