Published results showed use of a prediction rule may help identify patients with upper limb functional recovery after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury.
“This tool can be used to set patient expectations, rehabilitation goals and aid decision-making regarding the appropriateness and timing for upper limb reconstructive surgeries,” the authors wrote.
In a retrospective review of a longitudinal cohort study that included patients enrolled in the National Spinal Cord Injury model systems database, researchers included patients aged 15 years or older with tetraplegia who had clinical examinations within 1 month of spinal cord injury and at 1-year follow-up from 2011 to 2016. Researchers considered the primary outcome as a composite of dependency in eating, bladder management, transfers and locomotion domains of functional independence measure at 1-year follow-up.
