Abstract
Spinal cord injury following trauma is initially dealt with by acute hospitals. The early management including stabilization is usually performed by these centres. This is followed by onward referral to one of the Regional Spinal Injury Units.
There is concern of both sides of the fence regarding mobilization following spinal cord injury. The acute hospitals want to avoid the problems of prolonged recumbency and the Regional Spinal Injury Units wish to avoid the problems of early aggressive mobilization.
Therefore, we set out to discover if there was a standard approach to mobilising these patients following surgical stabilization, because of the oversubscribed resources of the spinal injury units and the wish to start mobilizing the injured as soon as possible.
A comparative audit of the Regional Spinal Injury Units in the UK and North American Units.
Regional Spinal Injury Units in United Kingdom and North America
Clear Management Plan
Mobilisation Schedule
We had replies from all Regional Spinal Injury Units in the UK and from seven in North America.
The Regional Spinal Injury Units all had differing approaches. Only a few were able to convey a clear management plan and mobilization schedule. Whereas the North American Units provided a ‘mobilize as able’ plan in all cases.
The North American Units had a ‘mobilize as able’ policy, whereas the UK units had a mixed approach. A coherent collaboration between the spinal surgeons stabilizing these injuries and the spinal injury units providing rehabilitation would improve patient management.
