For a retrospective cohort study, researchers wanted to determine if there was a link between early decompressive surgery and the influence of transport time on traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) patients’ neurological outcomes. tSCI was a life-changing incident leaves a person permanently unable or unable to function. There was a lot of debate over when the best time is for surgical decompression in tSCI patients. The goal of the research was to compare the neurological results of tSCI patients who had early vs. late surgical decompression and the effect of transit time on neurological outcomes. A total of 84 patients with tSCI who required surgical decompression were studied. Time to decompression classification cutoffs was determined using regression analysis. The following subgroups of patients were identified: As a percentage of total or admitting hospital time to decompression, 0 to 12 or greater than 12 hours. It was discovered how the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment (AIS) Grade changed from admission to discharge. In addition, the influence of transport duration on AIS grade conversion was evaluated, with patients being divided into 2 groups: those who travelled for less than 6 hours and those who travelled for more than 6 hours. Confounding factors such as age, injury severity, and AIS grade had no significant differences (P>0.05) among the time to decompression subgroups. Patients who got decompression within 0 to 12 hours had considerably (P<0.0001) better average ASIA grade improvements (0.76). Patient transport periods of fewer than 6 hours were linked to a significantly larger conversion of AIS grade to less impaired states (P=0.004). According to the findings, decompression within 12 hours and short transport periods (<6 hours) are linked to significant improvements in neurological outcomes.

 

Link:journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Abstract/2022/01010/Early_Decompression_and_Short_Transport_Time_After.10.aspx 

 

Author