TY - JOUR
T1 - ACUTE PHASE COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING TRAUMATIC SPINAL CORD INJURY IN DUTCH LEVEL 1 TRAUMA CENTRES
AU - van Weert, Karin C. M.
AU - Schouten, Evert J.
AU - Hofstede, José
AU - van de Meent, Henk
AU - Holtslag, Herman R.
AU - van den Berg-Emons, Rita J. G.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Objective: To assess the number and nature of complications during the acute phase following traumatic spinal cord injury and to explore the relationship between number of complications and length of hospital stay. Design: Multi-centre prospective cohort study. Patients: A total of 54 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury, referred to 3 level 1 trauma centres in The Netherlands. Methods: The number and nature of complications were registered weekly from September 2009 to December 2011. Results: A total of 32 patients (59%) had 1 or more medical complications. The most common complications were pressure ulcers (17 patients, 31%) and pulmonary complications (15 patients, 28%). Patients with 3 or 4 complications had significantly (p <0.01) longer hospital stays (58.5 [32.5] days) compared with those with 1 or 2 complications (33.1 [14.8] days) or no complications (21.5 [15.6] days). Conclusion: Complications, particularly pressure ulcers and pulmonary complications, occurred frequently during the acute phase following traumatic spinal cord injury. More complications were associated with longer hospital stays. Despite the existence of protocols, more attention is needed to prevent pressure ulcers during the acute phase following traumatic spinal cord injury for patients in The Netherlands
AB - Objective: To assess the number and nature of complications during the acute phase following traumatic spinal cord injury and to explore the relationship between number of complications and length of hospital stay. Design: Multi-centre prospective cohort study. Patients: A total of 54 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury, referred to 3 level 1 trauma centres in The Netherlands. Methods: The number and nature of complications were registered weekly from September 2009 to December 2011. Results: A total of 32 patients (59%) had 1 or more medical complications. The most common complications were pressure ulcers (17 patients, 31%) and pulmonary complications (15 patients, 28%). Patients with 3 or 4 complications had significantly (p <0.01) longer hospital stays (58.5 [32.5] days) compared with those with 1 or 2 complications (33.1 [14.8] days) or no complications (21.5 [15.6] days). Conclusion: Complications, particularly pressure ulcers and pulmonary complications, occurred frequently during the acute phase following traumatic spinal cord injury. More complications were associated with longer hospital stays. Despite the existence of protocols, more attention is needed to prevent pressure ulcers during the acute phase following traumatic spinal cord injury for patients in The Netherlands
U2 - https://doi.org/10.2340/16501977-1858
DO - https://doi.org/10.2340/16501977-1858
M3 - Article
C2 - 25152935
SN - 1650-1977
VL - 46
SP - 882
EP - 885
JO - Journal of rehabilitation medicine
JF - Journal of rehabilitation medicine
IS - 9
ER -