Researchers performed a multicenter, international and prospective cohort study in adults aged 16 to 80 with cervical spinal cord injury. A total of 313 patients with acute cervical SCI participated. Of these, 182 underwent early surgery, at an average of 14 hours, with the remaining 131 having late surgery, at a mean of 48 hours.
Key findings include:
• Of the 222 patients with follow-up available at six months post injury, about 19 percent of patients undergoing early surgery showed a greater than 2 grade improvement in American Spinal Cord Injury Association Improvement Scale compared to around 8 percent in the late decompression group;
• The odds of at least a 2 grade ASIA improvement were almost three times higher amongst those who underwent early surgery as compared to those who underwent late surgery;
• Complications occurred in about 24 percent of early surgery patients and about 30 percent of late surgery patients.
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