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PURPOSE To assess the hypothesis that nonsurgical management is a viable treatment option in patients with underlying degenerative disease who have traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (TCSI) without neurological deterioration and/or spinal instability during hospitalization. METHOD ology: Data was collected prospectively from 2011 to 2016. All patients were treated non-operatively with hard cervical collar immobilization. Clinical parameters assessed included Frankel grading on presentation and discharge, occurrence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), urinary tract infection (UTI), sphincteric dysfunction (SD), and pressure sore (PS). Radiographic data collected included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal cord changes (MSCC). P ≤ 0.05 represented a significant association between Frankel grading at presentation and outcome parameters. RESULTS Twenty-eight patients were included in this study. Of patients presenting with Frankel grade B, 85.71% improved to a higher grade, 90.91% of patients with Frankel C improved to a higher grade and 14.29% of patients with Frankel grade D improved to Frankel grade E. All patients had satisfactory spinal stability, as evidenced by dynamic x-rays, following treatment. CONCLUSION This study shows that nonsurgical management results in improved neurological outcomes in patients with underlying degenerative disease who have TCSI without evidence of neurological deterioration and spinal instability. Frankel grading at presentation is significantly associated with outcome parameters such as neurological outcome on discharge and occurrence of UTI. The results in this study could be helpful to neurological surgeons in rural and other low resource settings where saving costs does not sacrifice providing adequate care to their patients.