Pressure Ulcers During Spinal Cord Injury Hospitalization Tied to Poor Long-Term Outcomes

FRIDAY, Dec. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Pressure ulcers (PUs) acquired during initial hospitalization for spinal cord injury (SCI) are associated with poor long-term neurofunctional outcomes, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in JAMA Network Open.

Marcel A. Kopp, M.D., from the Berlin Institute of Health, and colleagues conducted a multicenter study to examine whether PUs acquired during initial hospitalization are associated with long-term outcome and survival after SCI. Patients with acute traumatic cervical SCI with relevant motor impairment were enrolled. The primary end point was the change in American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score at one year after SCI. The recovery of functional independence measure (FIM) motor score at one year after SCI and mortality up to 10 years were examined as secondary end points.

The study included 1,282 patients (mean age, 38.0 years). The researchers found that 45.7 percent of the patients acquired PUs during initial hospitalization. Compared to unexposed patients, exposure to PUs was associated with impaired motor recovery one year after SCI (−9.1 ASIA motor score points). There was also an association for PUs with lower recovery of physical independence one year after SCI (−8.3 FIM motor score points). PUs were confirmed as a risk marker for death up to 10 years after SCI (hazard ratio, 1.41).

“This cohort study suggests PUs qualify as modifiable disease-modifying factors after SCI,” the authors write. “Considering patients with SCI to be at higher risk to develop PUs in nonspecialized SCI centers, these results emphasize the need to rethink referral patterns for patients with SCI.”

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