COMPLICATIONS OF ACUTE TRAUMATIC SPINAL INJURIES IN SAINT PETERSBURG

Almost every sailor during performing his job duties aboard receives injuries of varying severity, among which the most common are deck fractures, including compression vertebral fractures, as well as open and closed vertebral fractures with spinal cord injuries. Besides the recovery of disordered functions of the spinal cord, in cases of spinal cord injury, the fight against numerous neurological, infectious and somatic complications affecting the survival and quality of life of patients is still relevant.

Objective: to study the incidence of complications of traumatic injuries of the spinal cord under initial hospitalization, their impact on the length of hospital stay, to identify and evaluate the role of risk factors in the development of complications.

Materials and methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted according to the archived case histories of patients hospitalized in neurosurgical hospitals in St. Petersburg. 311 cases of acute spinal cord injury in 2012–2016 were analyzed.

Results: complications not directly related to spinal cord injury, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, bedsores, sepsis, thromboembolism, urinary tract infections, postoperative wound pyogenesis and others (damage to other organs and systems), were found in one third of patients (33,8%), in half of the cases there were multiple complications (2 or more), the most frequent — respiratory (23,5%) and pressure sores (10%). Complications significantly increased the length of hospital stay. The dependence of the frequency of complications on age, the level of spinal cord damage and the severity of the injury was revealed. Risk factors such as concomitant head injury and alcohol intoxication have been found. The revealed positive effect of corticosteroids on the regression of neurological deficit was not statistically confirmed. At the same time, there was a significant increase in the frequency of respiratory complications when using corticosteroids.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the factors affecting the incidence of complications, optimization of their prevention and therapy will shorten the duration of hospitalization and improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients. The issue of use of corticosteroid therapy in the acute period of traumatic injuries of the spinal cord remains debatable. When choosing therapeutic tactics for managing patients with spinal trauma, it is necessary to take into account the risk of respiratory complications and carefully evaluate the ratio of benefits to harm. 

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