The Effect of Concomitant Spinal Cord Injury on Postoperative Health-related Quality of Life After Traumatic Subaxial Cervical Spine Injuries: A Nationwide Registry Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of spinal cord injury (SCI) on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients surgically treated for traumatic subaxial cervical spine injuries and investigate the agreement between objective neurologic outcomes and patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in that context. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study on prospectively collected multi-institutional registry data. SETTING: Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with traumatic subaxial spine injuries identified in the Swedish Spine Registry (Swespine) between 2006 and 2016. INTERVENTIONS: Anterior, posterior, or anteroposterior cervical fixation surgery. MAIN OUTCOMES: and Neck Disability Index (NDI). RESULTS: ) at 1, 2, and 5 years postoperatively as well as the NDI at 1 and 2 years postoperatively (P<.001). Changes of PROMs over time from 1, to 2, and 5 years postoperatively did not reach statistical significance, regardless of the presence and degree of SCI (P>.05). CONCLUSION: and NDI and was a significant predictor of PROMs at 1, 2, and 5 years. PROMs were stable beyond 1 year postoperatively regardless of the severity of the SCI.