Survival in 222 patients with severe cervical spinal cord injuries: an 8-year epidemiological survey in Western China

Publication date: Available online 24 January 2019

Source: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Author(s): Chenxin Liu, Xiaojiang Yang, Bing Meng, Zhao Yang, Xiaolei Zhao, Xiong Zhao, Yafei Feng, Wei Lei, Zixiang Wu

Abstract

Objective

To assess the survival and the predictors of mortality in patients with severe cervical spinal cord injuries

Design

Retrospective study

Participants

From January 1, 2010 to May 31, 2018, 222 patients who suffered from severe cervical spinal cord injuries in Western China were enrolled in this study.

Interventions

Not applicable

Main Outcome Measures

Survival rates and mortality risk factors. Measures were calculated by the product-limit method (Kaplan-Meier) and the Cox model.

Results

The overall 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 8-year postoperative mortalities were 24.4%, 30.6%, 33.3%, 36.2%, and 39.0%, respectively. Most deaths occurred within 36 months after the injury. According to the Cox proportional hazards model, the significant predictors of survival were as follows: (1) age, (2) neurologic level, (3) treatment options (surgical or conservative), and (4) ventilator support (P＜0.05). The 8-year mortality for older patients (>50 years) was 50.2%, which was significantly higher than that for younger patients (32.4%, <50 years). The risk of death was 2.053 times higher in higher levels of injury (C1-C4) than in lower levels of injury (C5-C8) (P＜0.05). Compared with conservative treatment, patients who received surgical treatment (either anterior or posterior decompression) had a lower risk of death (P＜0.05). No significant difference was detected in the risk of death between early surgery (<3 days) and mid-term surgery (3-7 days) (P＞0.05). However, patients who received late-term surgery (>7 days) had a higher mortality risk (P＜0.05). The overall 8-year mortality risk of patients who needed ventilator support was much higher than those who did not need ventilator support (P＜0.05).results

Conclusions

Age, neurologic level, ventilator dependence, treatment options, and timing to surgery were main risk factors for mortality in patients with severe cervical spinal cord injuries. Better understanding of the predictors for survival could possibly contribute to the improvement of survival rates.

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