Influence of Blood Pressure on Acute Cervical Spinal Cord Injury Without Fracture and Dislocation: Results From a Retrospective Analysis

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of blood pressure on the severity and functional recovery of patients with acute cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) without fracture and dislocation. METHODS: A retrospective case control study analyzed the data of 40 patients admitted to our orthopedics department (Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University) from January 2013 to February 2021. They were diagnosed as acute cervical SCI without fracture and dislocation. Gender, age, height, weight, history of hypertension, postinjury American Spinal Injury Association grade, postinjury modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score, postoperative mJOA score, 1 -year follow-up mJOA score, preoperative mean arterial pressure (MAP), intramedullary T2 hyperintensity, and hyponatremia were collected. The patients were divided into groups and subgroups based on their history of hypertension and preoperative MAP. The effects of history of hypertension and preoperative MAP on the incidence of T2 hyperintensity, hyponatremia, the improvement rate of the postoperative mJOA and 1 -year follow-up mJOA scores were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients with history of hypertension had a lower incidence of intramedullary T2 hyperintensity than patients without history of hypertension ( P < 0.05). Patients with history of hypertension and patients with a higher preoperative MAP had better neurological recovery at 1 year of follow-up ( P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Blood pressure has great influence on acute cervical SCI without fracture and dislocation. Maintaining a higher preoperative MAP is advantageous for better recovery after SCI. Attention should be paid to the dynamic management of blood pressure to avoid the adverse effects of hypotension after SCI.