Clinical Assessment and Management of Acute Spinal Cord Injury

The information contained in this article is suitable for clinicians practicing in the United States desiring a general overview of the assessment and management of spinal cord injury (SCI), focusing on initial care, assessment, acute management, complications, prognostication, and future research d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of clinical medicine Vol. 13; no. 19; p. 5719
Main Authors Quinones, Christian, Wilson, Jr, John Preston, Kumbhare, Deepak, Guthikonda, Bharat, Hoang, Stanley
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 25.09.2024
MDPI
Subjects
Health aspects
Hypothermia
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Patients
Respiration
Review
Spinal cord injuries
Asia
spinal cord injury
complications
acute management
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The information contained in this article is suitable for clinicians practicing in the United States desiring a general overview of the assessment and management of spinal cord injury (SCI), focusing on initial care, assessment, acute management, complications, prognostication, and future research directions. SCI presents significant challenges, affecting patients physically, emotionally, and financially, with variable recovery outcomes ranging from full functionality to lifelong dependence on caregivers. Initial care aims to minimize secondary injury through thorough neurological evaluations and imaging studies to assess the severity of the injury. Acute management prioritizes stabilizing respiratory and cardiovascular functions and maintaining proper spinal cord perfusion. Patients with unstable or progressive neurological decline benefit from timely surgical intervention to optimize neurological recovery. Subacute management focuses on addressing common complications affecting the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and genitourinary systems, emphasizing a holistic, multidisciplinary approach. Prognostication is currently based on neurological assessments and imaging findings, but emerging biomarkers offer the potential to refine outcome predictions further. Additionally, novel therapeutic interventions, such as hypothermia therapy and neuroprotective medications are being explored to mitigate secondary damage and enhance recovery. This paper serves as a high-yield refresher for clinicians for the assessment and management of acute spinal cord injury during index admission.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
ObjectType-Review-3
content type line 23
ISSN:2077-0383
2077-0383
DOI:10.3390/jcm13195719