Spinal cord injury: epidemiological study of 386 cases with emphasis on those patients admitted more than four hours after the trauma.
We studied 386 cases of spinal cord injury to analyze the follow up of the patients admitted most of the time more than four hours, the majority of the injuries happening far from the attending health service and first specialized care received long after the accident. This is a clinical study based on data collected during hospitalization of the patients, operated or not, in a Brazilian public health service. The lesion mainly seen was fracture and dislocation, isolated or on multiple levels, and the most important clinical complications were due to respiratory failure and hypotension, especially because 73.8% were from outside and they were admitted more then four hours after the trauma. The mortality rate was 11.9%, but just 2.1% had undergone a surgery. The complications resulted in major risk of death when the trauma was at the cervical level and the patients were over 50 years old, especially when admitted more than four hours after the trauma. We emphasize the importance of the first health care concerning the clinical treatment, aiming to reduce the mortality rate.
Leal-Filho
Manoel Baldoino
MB
State University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. manoelbaldoino@uol.com.br
Borges
Guilherme
G
Almeida
Bruno Ribeiro de
BR
Aguiar
Aline de Almeida Xavier
Ade A
Vieira
Marcelo Adriano da Cunha e Silva
MA
Dantas
Karoline da Silva
Kda S
Morais
Ricardo Keyson Paiva de
RK
Santos
Carlos Rogério Nogueira dos
CR
Mendes
Sumihara de Sousa
Sde S
Pinheiro
Luciana Maria
LM
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005392:First Aid; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009049:Motorcycles; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014187:Transportation of Patients; D014505:Urban Population