Frailty: An important predictor of worse outcome after traumatic spinal cord injury

Reviewed by Kate Anderton, B.Sc. (Editor)Nov 21 2019

A new study has shown that frailty is an important predictor of worse outcome after traumatic spinal cord injury in patients less than 75 years of age. In patients younger than 75 years, frailty was a predictor of adverse events, acute length of stay, and in-hospital mortality, as reported in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

"The Effect of Frailty on Outcome after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury" was coauthored by John Street, MD, PhD, University of British Columbia and Vancouver Spine Surgery Institute (Vancouver, Canada) and colleagues from University of British Columbia, Vancouver Spine Surgery Institute, Rick Hansen Institute (Vancouver), and Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Thunder Bay). The researchers examined the effect of patient age, Total Motor Score on admission, and score on a frailty index on adverse events, acute length of hospital stay, in-hospital death, and discharge destination (home or other). They identified the need for more accurate tools to measure frailty in the elderly.

The observation that frailty is an important risk factor for poor post-operative outcomes in younger spinal cord injured individuals should help treating physicians reduce the risks of adverse events and other complications.

W. Dalton Dietrich, PhD, Deputy Editor of Journal of Neurotrauma, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami (FL)