Abstract
Objective: To compare outcomes of patients with neoplastic spinal cord compression (SCC) to outcomes of patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) after inpatient rehabilitation. Design: A comparison between patients with a diagnosis of neoplastic SCC admitted to an SCI rehabilitation unit and patients with a diagnosis of traumatic SCI admitted to the regional Model Spinal Cord Injury Centers over a 5-year period, controlling for age, neurologic level of injury, and American Spinal Injury Association impairment classification. Setting: Tertiary university medical centers. Patients: Twenty-nine patients with neoplastic SCC and 29 patients with SCI of traumatic etiology who met standard rehabilitation admission criteria, Main Outcome Measures: Acute and rehabilitation hospital length of stay (LOS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores, FIM change, FIM efficiency, and discharge rates to home. Results: Patients with neoplastic SCC had a significantly (p < .01) shorter rehabilitation LOS than those with traumatic SCI (25.17 vs 57.46 days). No statistical significance was found in acute care LOS. Motor FIM scores on admission were higher in the neoplastic group, but discharge FIM scores and FIM change were significantly lower. Both groups had similar FIM efficiencies and community discharges. Conclusions: Patients with neoplastic SCC can achieve rates of functional gain comparable to those of their counterparts with traumatic SCI. While patients with traumatic SCI achieve greater functional improvement, patients with neoplastic SCC have a shorter rehabilitation LOS and can achieve comparable success with discharge to the community.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1253-1257 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 1999 |
Funding
From the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA. Submitted for publicated November 10, 1998. Accepted in revised form April 29, 1999. Supported in part by grant H133N50015 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Bethesda, MD, to the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center of the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated. Reprint requests to William McKinley, MD, PO Box 980661, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23298. 0 1999 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 0003-9993/99/8010-5289$3.00/O
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation