A Study of Traumatic Cord Contusions - Management and Outcomes

Abstract

Background: There is convincing preclinical evidence that early decompression in the setting of spinal cord injury (SCI) improves neurologic outcomes. However, the effect of early surgical decompression in patients with acute SCI remains uncertain. Aims: To study the long-term outcomes of patients presenting with spinal cord contusions and to compare the neurological outcomes in patients who underwent surgery and those who were managed conservatively. Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted on all patients admitted with features of cord contusions and central cord syndrome for 2 years. Information gathered included mechanism of injury, previous neurological status, length of hospital stay and functional status. Group 1 included patients younger than 50 years of age, Group 2 included from 50 to 70 years of age and Group 3 had patients who were above 70 years of age. Results: Out of the 147 patients only 26 patients had a single level involvement. Around 61.6% of study subjects with injury of spinal cord at >2 levels were found to have good outcome. Almost 54.5% of study subjects had good outcome in which spinal cord injury was at 2 levels and 34.6% of study subjects had good outcome among whom spinal cord injury was at 1 level only. The difference was found to be significant statistically. Patients undergoing early surgical intervention have better outcomes. Conclusion: It is concluded that Surgery is a better mode of management for cervical cord contusions.