Missed injuries associated with spinal cord trauma.

Spinal cord trauma frequently results from high energy vehicular accidents which produce multisystem trauma. Because of the priorities of resuscitation, other injuries may escape early diagnosis. This study was undertaken to examine the extent and implications of "missed injuries" associated with spinal trauma. We reviewed the charts of 24 patients (23 men, one woman) with spinal cord injuries, who presented during a consecutive 9-year period. The median age was 31 years. Two patients died. There were 13 cervical, 10 thoracic, and one lumbar injuries. Blunt trauma was responsible for injuries in 18 cases, other mechanisms were the cause in six cases. The average initial Glasgow coma score was 13 +/- 0.8 (SEM). Average revised trauma score (RTS) was 6.7 +/- 0.3 (SEM). Other injuries noted at the time of presentation included: head and neck (8), thoracic (6), extremity (2), and major vascular (1). There were 11 initially undiagnosed injuries in 10 patients (42%); six were "nonspinal" and five were "spinal," diagnosed between 1 and 30 days after admission. Average trauma scores were the same among those with and without missed injuries. Missed spinal injuries included: fractures of C5-6 (2), C4 (1), T7 (1), and L1 presenting as a progressive deficit (1). Nonspinal injuries were: pneumothorax (3), hemopneumothorax (1), paralyzed hemidiaphragm (1), and renal contusion (1). Prolonged hospital stay and/or the need for additional surgery were the most common sequelae of delayed diagnosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)