Ellen Merete Hagen

A 50-year follow-up of the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injuries in Western Norway

Study design:Retrospective population-based epidemiological study.Objective:To assess the prevalence and temporal trends in the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI), and demographic and clinical characteristics of an unselected, geographically defined cohort in the period 1952–2001.Methods:The patients were identified from hospital records. Crude rates and age-adjusted rates were calculated for each year. The multivariate relationship between cause of injury, age at injury, decade of injury and gender was examined using a Poisson regression model.Results:Of 336 patients, 199 patients were alive on 1 January 2002, giving a total prevalence of 36.5 per 100 000 inhabitants. The average annual incidence increased from 5.9 per million in the first decade to 21.2 per million in the last. Mean age at injury was 42.9 years and the male to female ratio 4.7:1. Fall was the most common cause of injury (45.5%), followed by motor vehicle accidents (MVA) (34.2%). The incidence of MVA-related injuries increased during the observation period, especially among men <30 years. The lesion level was cervical in 52.4%, thoracic in 29.5% and lumbar/sacral in 18.2%. The lesion was clinically incomplete in 58.6% and complete in 41.4%. The incidence of fall-related injuries and the proportion of incomplete cervical lesions increased during the observation period, especially among men >60 years.Conclusions:The incidence of TSCI has increased during the past 50 years. Falls and MVA are potentially preventable causes. The increasing proportion of older patients with cervical lesions poses a challenge to the health system.

Mortality after traumatic spinal cord injury: 50 years of follow-up

Objective To study mortality and causes of death in an unselected geographically defined cohort of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI), 1952–2001. Methods Patients were identified from hospital records. The date of death was obtained from the National Population Register, and causes of death recorded by linkage to the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. Patient mortality was compared with mortality in the Norwegian population using standardised mortality ratios (SMR) adjusted for age and gender. Results 401 patients (70 women and 331 men) were identified. By 31 August 2008, 173 were dead. Median survival time in deceased patients was 7.4 years; 6.9 years for patients with cervical injuries and 8.2 years for patients with thoracolumbosacral injuries (TLS). TSCI patients had an increased mortality (SMR 1.85) compared with the Norwegian population. SMR did not change during the observation period. SMR was significantly higher for women than for men (2.88 vs 1.72), and higher in patients with complete TSCI compared with patients with incomplete TSCI (4.23 vs 1.25). SMR was 6.70 for patients with complete cervical injuries and 3.07 for patients with complete TLS injuries. Cause specific SMR were 1.96 for respiratory disease, and for suicide including accidental poisoning 3.70 for men and 37.59 for women. Conclusions Patients with a TSCI, and especially women, have an increased mortality despite modern treatment and care. Special attention should be paid to respiratory dysfunction and pulmonary infections, and to prevent suicide and accidental poisoning.

Incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury worldwide: a systematic review

PurposeTraumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI) are among the most devastating conditions in developed and developing countries, which can be prevented. The situation of TSCI around the world is not well understood which complicates the preventive policy decision making in fight against TSCI. This study was aimed to gather the available information about incidence of TSCI around the world.MethodsA systematic search strategy was designed and run in Medline and EMBASE, along with extensive grey literature search, personal communications, website searching, and reference checking of related papers.ResultsOverall, 133 resources including 101 papers, 17 trauma registries, 6 conference proceedings, 5 books, 2 theses and 2 personal communication data were retrieved. Data were found for 41 individual countries. The incidence of TSCI ranges from 3.6 to 195.4 patients per million around the world. Australia, Canada, US, and high-income European countries have various valuable reports of TSCI, while African and Asian countries lack the appropriate epidemiologic data on TSCI.ConclusionData of epidemiologic information in TSCI are available for 41 countries of the world, which are mostly European and high-income countries. Researches and efforts should be made to gather information in developing and low-income countries to plan appropriate cost-effective preventive strategies in fight against TSCI.

Diagnostic coding accuracy for traumatic spinal cord injuries

Study design:Retrospective register study enhanced and verified by medical records.Objectives:To study whether electronic searches of discharge diagnosis are valid for epidemiological research of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).Settings:Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, NorwayMethods:We identified all hospital admissions with discharge codes suggesting a traumatic SCI from ICD-8 to ICD-10 in the electronic database at Haukeland University Hospital, and ascertained the cases by reviewing all hospital records.Results:1080 patients had an ICD diagnostic code suggesting a traumatic SCI. Only 260 were verified when reviewing the hospital records. The ICD-10 codes had superior positive predictive values (PPV) and likelihood ratios (LR+) compared with the codes from ICD-8 and ICD-9. Combining seven codes from ICD-10 (S14.0, S14.1, S24.0, S24.1, S34.1, S34.3, T91.3) gave the highest sensitivity (0.83), specificity (0.97), PPV (0.88) and LR+ (30.23).Conclusion:Obtaining hospital discharge diagnoses solely from electronic databases overestimates the incidence of traumatic SCI. Identification of patients using ICD-10 codes is more complicated because acute traumatic SCI and traumatic SCI sequelae are listed with several codes. The latest ICD version proved to be most reliable when identifying patients with traumatic SCI. However, ICD data cannot be trusted without extensive validity checks for either research or for health planning and administration.

The clinical significance of spinal cord injuries in patients older than 60 years of age.

Objectives –  To study the causes and the rehabilitation outcome of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) in patients older than 60 years at the time of injury.

Spasticity following spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND Up to 70% of patients with spinal cord injuries develop spasticity. The main aim of the paper is to provide an overview of spasticity management, primarily in patients with spinal cord injuries. METHOD The article is based on literature searches in PubMed using the keyphrases «spasticity» and «spasticity AND spinal cord injury», and own clinical experience and research. RESULTS Spasticity may be general, regional or localised. Factors such as an over-filled bladder, obstipation, acute infections, syringomyelia or bone fractures may substantially influence the degree of spasticity and must be determined. An assessment of the clinical and functional consequences for the patient is decisive before management. Active exercise, physiotherapy and peroral drugs are the simplest and cheapest options. Baclofen is the only centrally acting spasmolytic registered in Norway and is the first choice for peroral treatment. Benzodiazepines can also be used. The effect of the tablets is generally limited and there are often pronounced side effects. Local spasticity can be treated with botulinum toxin injections. The effect is time-limited and the treatment must be repeated. International guidelines recommend a combination of botulinum toxin injections and physiotherapy. In cases of regional spasticity, particularly in the lower limbs, intrathecal baclofen administered via a programmable pump may provide a continuous spasm-reducing effect. Orthopaedic surgery or neurosurgery may be an option for selected patients with intractable spasticity. INTERPRETATION Spasticity following a spinal cord injury must be assessed regularly. The treatment strategy depends on the degree of functional failure caused by the spasticity and its location.

Acute complications of spinal cord injuries

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of acute complications of spinal cord injury (SCI). Along with motor and sensory deficits, instabilities of the cardiovascular, thermoregulatory and broncho-pulmonary system are common after a SCI. Disturbances of the urinary and gastrointestinal systems are typical as well as sexual dysfunction. Frequent complications of cervical and high thoracic SCI are neurogenic shock, bradyarrhythmias, hypotension, ectopic beats, abnormal temperature control and disturbance of sweating, vasodilatation and autonomic dysreflexia. Autonomic dysreflexia is an abrupt, uncontrolled sympathetic response, elicited by stimuli below the level of injury. The symptoms may be mild like skin rash or slight headache, but can cause severe hypertension, cerebral haemorrhage and death. All personnel caring for the patient should be able to recognize the symptoms and be able to intervene promptly. Disturbance of respiratory function are frequent in tetraplegia and a primary cause of both short and long-term morbidity and mortality is pulmonary complications. Due to physical inactivity and altered haemostasis, patients with SCI have a higher risk of venous thromboembolism and pressure ulcers. Spasticity and pain are frequent complications which need to be addressed. The psychological stress associated with SCI may lead to anxiety and depression. Knowledge of possible complications during the acute phase is important because they may be life threatening and/ or may lead to prolonged rehabilitation.

Management of Neuropathic Pain Associated with Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an injury to the spinal cord that leads to varying degrees of motor and/or sensory deficits and paralysis. Chronic pain of both neuropathic and nociceptive type is common and contributes to reduced quality of life. The aim of the review is to provide current clinical understanding as well as discuss and evaluate efficacy of pharmacological interventions demonstrated in the clinical studies. The review was based on literature search in PubMed and Medline with words “neuropathic pain” and “spinal cord injury”. The review included clinical studies and not experimental data nor case reports. A limited number of randomized and placebo-controlled studies concerning treatment options of neuropathic pain after SCI were identified. Amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant and the antiepileptic drugs, gabapentin and pregabalin, are most studied with demonstrated efficacy, and considered to be the primary choice. Opioids have demonstrated conflicting results in the clinical studies. In addition, administration route used in the studies as well as reported side effects restrict everyday use of opioids as well as ketamine and lidocaine. Topical applications of capsaicin or lidocaine as well as intradermal injections of Botulinum toxin are new treatment modalities that are so far not studied on SCI population and need further studies. Non-pharmacological approaches may have additional effect on neuropathic pain. Management of pain should always be preceded by thorough clinical assessment of the type of pain. Patients need a follow-up to evaluate individual effect of applied measures. However, the applied management does not necessarily achieve satisfactory pain reduction. Further clinical studies are needed to evaluate the effect of both established and novel management options.

Cardiovascular and urological dysfunction in spinal cord injury

Hagen EM, Faerestrand S, Hoff JM, Rekand T, Gronning M. Cardiovascular and urological dysfunction in spinal cord injury.
Acta Neurol Scand: 2011: 124 (Suppl. 191): 71–78.
© 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Traumatic spinal cord injury and concomitant brain injury: a cohort study

Hagen EM, Eide GE, Rekand T, Gilhus NE, Gronning M. Traumatic spinal cord injury and concomitant brain injury: a cohort study. Acta Neurol Scand: 2010: 122 (Suppl. 190): 51–57.