Side effects of steroid use in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Indicate and identify potential complications in our unit associated with the use of steroids in patients over 16 years of age with traumatic acute spinal cord injury managed with NASCIS II, III scheme compared with patients with the same characteristics who did not receive this management. METHODS: To conduct a research study with reports of cases and controls in patients over 16 years of age and with an established diagnosis of acute spinal cord injury, treated definitively in our unit, performing the comparison of evolutionary process between those treated with steroids and those who were not, based on the development of a data collection sheet with several variables.. The results were encoded, tabulated and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients were analyzed from January to December 2012 and it was found that 16% of the patients managed with the steroid scheme required admission to the intensive care unit, 40% developed hospital-acquired pneumonia, 17% had urinary tract infection, 3% progressed to respiratory failure and 20% of this group had gastrointestinal bleeding. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that steroid management is not a risk-free therapy and the recommendation is to make a direct assessment of the potential benefit to its use in relation to the possible complications that can ensue before choosing this option in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury.