Secondary complications after spinal cord injury
Table I. Participants’ characteristics on acute care admission
(n = 45)
Variables
Age at injury, years
Mean (SD)
54.9 (16.6)
Median (min–max)
Age categories, n (%)
58.0 (18–85)
18–30 years 4 (9)
31–45 years 10 (22)
46–60 years 12 (27)
61–75 years 14 (31)
5 (11)
>75 years
Duration of acute hospital stay, days
Mean (SD)
44.4 (25.0)
Median (min–max)
Sex, n (%)
42.0 (3–131)
Male
27 (60)
Female
Aetiology, n (%)
18 (40)
1 (2)
Sport
Assault – (–)
Transport 18 (40)
26 (58)
Falls
Level of injury, n (%)
Tetraplegia
32 (71)
Paraplegia
Completeness of injury, n (%)
13 (29)
Complete
13 (29)
Incomplete
Associated injury*, n (%)
32 (71)
Yes 31 (69)
No 14 (31)
care. The most common secondary complications
during this phase of care were UTIs (47%), pneumonia
(22%), and neuropathic pain (18%). Concerning reha-
bilitation, 84% experienced at least one complication,
while the most common complications were UTIs
(42%), neuropathic pain (42%), and spasticity (35%).
Association between level and completeness of
injury and selected complications
As seen in Table III, no statistically significant as-
sociations were found between the level of injury,
i.e. tetraplegia vs paraplegia, and the presence of any
complication, number of complications, and the 3
most common complications found during acute care.
However, a close to significant finding was found for
neuropathic pain, where all cases occurred in those
with tetraplegia and none in those with paraplegia.
Similarly, no association was found between comple-
teness of injury and the presence of any complication,
number of complications, and the 3 most common
complications, respectively.
As seen in Table IV, the only significant association
(p = 0.02) was found between level of injury and neuro-
pathic pain during inpatient rehabilitation. No further
Vertebral injury, n (%)
Yes 43 (96)
No 2 (4)
Spinal surgery, n (%)
Yes 43 (96)
No 2 (4)
*Associated injuries included moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, non-
vertebral fractures requiring surgery, severe facial injuries, major chest injury
requiring mechanical ventilation and severe haemorrhaging, or damage to
internal organs. SD: standard deviation.
515
Table III. Association between injury characteristics and the 3
most common complications during acute care (n = 45)
Variable, n
Yes
No
Number of complications
Zero or 1
Secondary complications during acute care and
inpatient rehabilitation Two or more
Pneumonia
As seen in Table II, the majority (78%) of participants
experienced at least one complication during acute No
Urinary tract infections
Table II. Prevalence of secondary medical complications during
acute care (n = 45) and rehabilitation (n = 31)
Secondary medical complication
Any secondary complications
Pneumonia
Pressure injuries
Urinary tract infection
Autonomic dysreflexia
Deep vein thrombosis
Pulmonary embolism
Postural hypotension
Cardiovascular disease
Neuropathic pain
Other
Spasticity
Acute care
n (%) Rehabilitation
n (%)
35 (78)
10 (22)
2 (4)
21 (47)
0 (0)
1 (2)
5 (11)
0 (0)
0 (0)
8 (18) 26 (84)
0 (0)
5 (16)
13 (42)
0 (0)
0 (0)
0 (0)
2 (6)
2 (6)
13 (42)
Tetraplegia
Paraplegia
Yes
Yes
No
Neuropathic pain
Yes
No
26 9
6 4
20 7
12 6
7 3
25 10
13 8
19 5
8 0
0.59
1.0
0.32
0.08
24 13
Complete Incomplete
12 23
1 9
7 20
6 12
4 6
9 26
7 14
6 18
2 6
11 26
0.24
Any complication
Yes
No
Number of complications
Zero or 1
Two or more
Pneumonia
Yes
No
Urinary tract infections
Yes
4 (9) 11 (35) Infection 3 (7) 2 (7) Respiratory failure 1 (2) – Yes
Anaemia 1 (2) – No
No
Neuropathic pain
p-value
0.44
Any complication
0.59
0.44
0.74
1.0
J Rehabil Med 51, 2019