Investigating Factors Affecting Mortality Due to Spinal Cord Trauma in Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting mortality due to spinal cord trauma in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

Methods: This study was conducted in a group of patients who were admitted to the ICU with a Traumatic Spinal Injuries (TSI) diagnosis. The researcher started sampling by assessing the documents of the patients hospitalized in the ICU, and the diagnosis of TSI was confirmed for them. Besides, utilizing a researcher-made checklist, factors affecting the mortality of patients were identified. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: About 412 (64.2%) patients were men, about 213 (33.2%) of the patients had GCS between 3-8 grade. There were injuries in the pelvis area. Moreover, there was a significant relationship between GCS score status and the number of injury follow-ups in addition to TSI. Therefore, the mortality rate was higher in patients who had lower GCS (Odds ratio=2.32, p<0.001). There was also a significant relationship between the number of injuries and the mortality rate, and patients who had multiple traumas had a higher mortality rate. Besides, a significant relationship was observed between the complications caused by trauma, including cerebrovascular accident, cardiac arrest, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pneumonia, and the mortality of patients hospitalized in the SICU (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The patients' mortality was influenced by factors such as their level of consciousness, the number of traumas caused in the spinal cord, and the occurrence of comorbidities such as cerebrovascular accident, cardiac arrest, ARDS, and pneumonia. Therefore, it is necessary to take the essential measures to reduce these complications.