Abstract:

Objective To analyze the impact of the timing of decompression surgery on the prognosis of patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury. Methods A total of 80 patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to June 2020 were selected and were divided into the control group and the observation group with 1∶1 ratio based on the timing of emergency decompression. The control group underwent late decompression surgery（over 24 h after injury），and the observation group underwent early decom⁃ pression surgery（within 24 h after injury）. The difference in prognosis between the two groups was compared. Results Before operation，the upper limb movement score，lower limb movement score，total movement score， light touch score，acupuncture score，and quality of life score were the same in the two groups. The score at 1 year after operation was higher than that before the operation，and the score of the observation group was higher than that of the control group，the difference was statistically significant（P < 0.05）. Conclusion Compared with late decompression surgery，early decompression surgery was more helpful to improve the prognosis of patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury，suggesting that 24 h after injury may be a critical time window.

Key words:

acute traumatic spinal cord injury, timing of decompression surgery, prognosis