Neurological outcomes and predictive factors in traumatic spinal cord injury patients in the intensive care unit
Abstract
This study aims to analyze the demographic characteristics, clinical features, and neurological outcomes of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), in order to provide scientific evidence for the prevention and management of TSCI.
Introduction
Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is a severe and potentially life-threatening that often results in significant disability and long-term complications [1–3]. The global annual incidence of TSCI is estimated to range between 10.4 to 83.0 cases per million, with reported rates of 27–83 in the United States and 21 to 32.3 in Australia [4–6].
Materials and methods
This retrospective study reviewed medical records from the ICU of The Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Patients admitted between January 2018 and December 2022 were identified using the International Classification of Disease.
Results
Between January 1, 2018, and December 7, 2022, a total of 491 TSCI cases were identified. Of these, 150 cases were excluded for the following reasons: readmission (n = 34), missing data (n = 49), non-traumatic or unclear diagnosis (n = 22), severe craniocerebral injury leading to no-cooperation (n = 33), and psychiatric disorders, ASIA Grade E, or age < 18 years (n = 12).
Discussion
This retrospective study analyzed the characteristics of patients with TSCI admitted to the ICU in Hangzhou, China, from 2018 to 2022. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first large-scale epidemiological investigation of TSCI in this region.
Conclusion
Patients with TSCI admitted to the ICU are predominantly middle-aged men, with high falls and traffic accidents being the primary etiologies. Incomplete quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury is the most common injury pattern, typically accompanied by a high prevalence of associated injuries and complications.
Citation: Yuan D, Jin Y, Chen L, Tang M, Lin J, Chen W (2025) Neurological outcomes and predictive factors in traumatic spinal cord injury patients in the intensive care unit. PLoS One 20(5): e0323433. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323433
Editor: Osama Farouk, Assiut University Faculty of Medicine, EGYPT
Received: February 22, 2025; Accepted: May 8, 2025; Published: May 29, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Yuan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
