Emerging therapies for acute traumatic spinal cord injury

摘要

There are currently about 85 000 Canadians living with spinal cord injuries, more than half of which are secondary to trauma. As the population ages, the incidence and prevalence of traumatic spinal cord injury are expected to increase, primarily as a result of fall-related injuries among older adults. Therefore, treating spinal cord injuries is relevant not only to spine surgeons and physiatrists, but also to the general clinician who will increasingly encounter such patients in the emergency department or family practice. Here, we review relevant pathophysiology and recent evidence pertaining to the medical, surgical and cellular-based treatment of acute traumatic spinal cord injury. Most of the identified pharmacologic studies were randomized trials or early phase nonrandomized prospective studies. Research relating to the remaining topics was predominately observational in design (Box 1).