Life-threatening outcomes associated with autonomic dysreflexia: A clinical review

Context Autonomic dysreflexia (AD) is a life-threatening complication of chronic traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Objective To document and provide insight into the life-threatening sequelae associated with AD. Methods A review was conducted to identify literature which documented cases of AD ass...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe journal of spinal cord medicine Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 2 - 10
Main Authors Wan, Darryl, Krassioukov, Andrei V.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Taylor & Francis 01.01.2014
Maney Publishing
Subjects
Autonomic dysreflexia
Autonomic Dysreflexia - mortality
Autonomic Dysreflexia - physiopathology
Databases, Bibliographic - statistics & numerical data
Death
Hemorrhage
Humans
Ischemia
Reviews
Seizures
Spinal cord injuries
Autonomic dysreflexia
Spinal cord injuries
Ischemia
Hemorrhage
Seizures
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Summary:Context Autonomic dysreflexia (AD) is a life-threatening complication of chronic traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Objective To document and provide insight into the life-threatening sequelae associated with AD. Methods A review was conducted to identify literature which documented cases of AD associated with life-threatening outcomes (and death). The search strategy comprised of a keyword search on the PubMed database as well as manual searches of retrieved articles. Outcomes were categorized into three main classes: central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular (CV), and pulmonary. Results Thirty-two cases of death or life-threatening complications of AD were found. Twenty-three (72%) cases were CNS-related, seven (22%) cases were CV-related, and two (6%) cases were pulmonary-related. In total, seven (22%) deaths were noted as a direct result of complications following an AD attack. Conclusion AD is a well-known consequence of SCI among individuals with high thoracic and cervical injuries. Many of these individuals experience this condition on a daily basis. Medical personnel, care givers, and individuals with SCI should be aware of the importance of timely diagnosis and management of this life-threatening condition, which can result in a variety of significant complications including stroke, seizures, myocardial ischemia, and death.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:1079-0268
2045-7723
DOI:10.1179/2045772313Y.0000000098