Abstract: Acute injuries of the cervical spine are among the most common causes of severe disability and death. There are several controversial issues with regard to surgical intervention in the management of trauma to the cervical spine. Most importantly, is the issue of the timing of surgical decompression. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the role of early surgery on the outcome of traumatic cervical cord injury. Sixty-seven patients with a single fracture (29 patients) or fracture-dislocation (38 patients) of the cervical spine were operated. Thirty-one patients had surgical intervention within 72 h of injury, whereas 36 patients were operated after 72 h of injury. The results were compared using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Release 11.5 software and the independent samples Student’s t-test, the paired samples t-test and chi-square analysis as the statistical tests. Patients with complete tetraplegia had no neurological improvement postoperatively. All patients with incomplete spinal cord lesions showed improvement of their neurological status after the operation. No statistically significant difference was found between the times elapsed from the injury to the time of operation and to the final neurological outcome. Surgical decompression and stabilization of cervical fractures is a safe procedure and neurological recovery may be anticipated in patients with incomplete spinal cord lesions. This study does not support the role of earl surgery on the final outcome of patients with traumatic cervical cord injury.