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Open Access 01-02-2020 | Review

Prevalence of concomitant traumatic cranio-spinal injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Mark J. Pandrich, Andreas K. Demetriades

Published in: Neurosurgical Review | Issue 1/2020

Abstract

The biomechanical relationship between cranial and spinal structures makes concomitant injury likely. Concomitant cranio-spinal injuries are important to consider following trauma due to the serious consequences of a missed injury. The objective of this review was to estimate the prevalence of concomitant cranio-spinal injury in the adult trauma population. A systematic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to identify observational studies reporting the prevalence of concomitant cranio-spinal injury in the general adult trauma population was conducted on 21 March 2017. The prevalence of concomitant cervical spinal injury in patients with a traumatic brain injury (TBI); the prevalence of concomitant spinal injury in patients with a TBI; the prevalence of concomitant TBI in patients with a cervical spinal injury; and the prevalence of concomitant TBI in patients with a spinal injury were calculated by meta-analysis. Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. The prevalence of concomitant cervical spinal injury in patients with a TBI was found to be 6.5% (95% CI 6.0–7.1%); the prevalence of concomitant spinal injury in patients with a TBI to be 12.4–12.5%; the prevalence of concomitant TBI in patients with a cervical spinal injury to be 40.4% (95% CI 33.0–48.0%); and the prevalence of concomitant TBI in patients with a spinal injury to be 32.5% (95% CI 10.8–59.3%). This review reports the prevalence of concomitant cranio-spinal injury and highlights the importance of considering concomitant injury in patients with a cranial or spinal traumatic injury.

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Title: Prevalence of concomitant traumatic cranio-spinal injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Mark J. Pandrich
Andreas K. Demetriades
Publication date: 01-02-2020
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Neurosurgical Review / Issue 1/2020
Print ISSN: 0344-5607
Electronic ISSN: 1437-2320
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-018-0988-3

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Prevalence of concomitant traumatic cranio-spinal injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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