BACKGROUND: Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare but devastating medical condition requiring urgent surgery to halt or reverse neurological compromise. Controversy exists as to how soon surgery must be performed after diagnosis, and clinical and medicolegal factors make this question highly relevant to the spine surgeon. It is unclear from the literature how often CES patients are treated within the recommended time frame. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether CES patients are being treated in compliance with the current guideline of surgery within 48 hours and to assess incidence, demography, comorbidities, and outcome measures of CES patients. METHODS: We searched the 2003 to 2006 California State Inpatient Databases to identify degenerative lumbar disk disorder patients surgically treated for CES. An International Classification of Disease, ninth revision, clinical modification, diagnosis code was used to identify CES patients with advanced disease. RESULTS: The majority (88.74%) of California's CES patients received surgery within the recommended 48-hour window after diagnosis. The incidence of CES in surgically treated degenerative lumbar disk patients was 1.51% with an average of 397 cases per year in California. CES patients had worse outcomes and used more healthcare resources than other surgically treated degenerative lumbar disk patients; this disparity was more pronounced for patients with advanced CES. CES patients treated after 48 hours had 3 times the odds of a nonroutine discharge as patients treated within 48 hours (odds ratio = 3.082; P < .001). CONCLUSION: In California, patients are being treated within the recommended 48-hour time frame.
BACKGROUND:Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a rare but devastating medical condition requiring urgent surgery to halt or reverse neurological compromise. Controversy exists as to how soon surgery must be performed after diagnosis, and clinical and medicolegal factors make this question highly relevant to the spine surgeon. It is unclear from the literature how often CESpatients are treated within the recommended time frame. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether CESpatients are being treated in compliance with the current guideline of surgery within 48 hours and to assess incidence, demography, comorbidities, and outcome measures of CESpatients. METHODS: We searched the 2003 to 2006 California State Inpatient Databases to identify degenerative lumbar disk disorderpatients surgically treated for CES. An International Classification of Disease, ninth revision, clinical modification, diagnosis code was used to identify CESpatients with advanced disease. RESULTS: The majority (88.74%) of California's CESpatients received surgery within the recommended 48-hour window after diagnosis. The incidence of CES in surgically treated degenerative lumbar disk patients was 1.51% with an average of 397 cases per year in California. CESpatients had worse outcomes and used more healthcare resources than other surgically treated degenerative lumbar disk patients; this disparity was more pronounced for patients with advanced CES. CESpatients treated after 48 hours had 3 times the odds of a nonroutine discharge as patients treated within 48 hours (odds ratio = 3.082; P < .001). CONCLUSION: In California, patients are being treated within the recommended 48-hour time frame.
Authors: Nisaharan Srikandarajah; Martin Wilby; Simon Clark; Adam Noble; Paula Williamson; Tony Marson Journal: Spine (Phila Pa 1976) Date: 2018-09-01 Impact factor: 3.241