Risk Factors Associated with Morbidity and Mortality after Cervical Spine Injury at Dr Sardjito General Hospital
Abstract
Background: Cervical injury is a form of spinal cord trauma with high morbidity and mortality rates, especially in developing countries. Identifying risk factors is essential for prevention strategies, management, and improved patient outcomes
Objective: This study aims to observe the effect of listening to music on the anxiety level of surgical patients undergoing subarachnoid block anesthesia. To analyze risk factors of cervical injury related to morbidity and mortality, and to present the demographic profile of cervical injury cases at Dr Sardjito General Hospital
Methods: This study employed a retrospective case-control design involving 127 patients with cervical injury treated at Dr Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta, from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024. Data were collected from medical records and analyzed using bivariate analysis (Fisher’s exact test). A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The majority of patients were male (88.2%) with an average age of 50.57 years. The most common trauma mechanisms were falls from height (45.7%) and traffic accidents (44.9%). Severe disability as morbidity was experienced by 41.7% of patients, while mortality reached 31.5%. Risk factor analysis for morbidity did not find any variables significantly associated with clinical outcomes (P>0.05). Length of stay (LOS) was significantly associated with morbidity (p=0.001). Significant risk factors for mortality included respiratory comorbidity (OR 4.50; p=0.004)
Conclusion: ASIA score, prolonged ventilator use, and tracheostomy were identified as risk factors for mortality in cervical injury patients at Dr Sardjito General Hospital. No statistically significant risk factors were found to be associated with morbidity
References
World Health Organization. World Health Organization. 2024. Spinal Cord Injury. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/spinal-cord-injury
Higashi T, Eguchi H, Wakayama Y, Sumi M, Saito T. Risk factors associated with mortality after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury. OTA Int. 2018;1(1):1-4. Doi: 10.1097/OI9.0000000000000003
Ganuza JR, Forcada AG, Gambarrutta C, Buigues EDDLL, Gonzalez VEM, Fuentes FP, et al. Effect of technique and timing of tracheostomy in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury undergoing mechanical ventilation. J Spinal Cord Med. 2011;34(1):76–84. Doi: 10.1179/107902610X12886261091875
Yang R, Guo L, Wang P, Huang L, Tang Y, Wang W, et al. Epidemiology of spinal cord injuries and risk factors for complete injuries in Guangdong, China: A retrospective study. PLoS One. 2014 ;9(1):1-10. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084733
Widhiyanto L, Japamadisaw A, Hernugrahanto KD. A demographic profile of cervical injury: an Indonesian single tertiary hospital study with 6 months to 1-year follow-up. Egypt J Neurol Psychiatr Neurosurg. 2021;57(1):1-5. Doi: 10.1186/s41983-021-00433-x
Hasler RM, Exadaktylos AK, Bouamra O, Benneker LM, Clancy M, Sieber R, et al. Epidemiology and predictors of cervical spine injury in adult major trauma patients: A multicenter cohort study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012;72(4):975–81. Doi: 10.1097/TA.0b013e31823f5e8e
Scantling D, Granche J, Williamson J, Gracely E, Thosani D, McCracken B. Development of clinical tracheostomy score to identify cervical spinal cord injury patients requiring prolonged ventilator support. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2019;87(1):195–9. Doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000002286
Sengupta D, Bindra A, Kumar N, Goyal K, Singh PK, Chaturvedi A, et al. Respiratory morbidity and mortality of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury at a level I trauma center in India. Spinal Cord Ser Cases. 2021;7(1):1-8. Doi: 10.1038/s41394-020-00371-5.
Burns AS, Ditunno JF. Establishing prognosis and maximizing functional outcomes after spinal cord injury. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2001;26(Supplement):S137–45. Doi: 10.1097/00007632-200112151-00023
Aarabi B, Sansur CA, Ibrahimi DM, Simard JM, Hersh DS, Le E, et al. Intramedullary lesion length on postoperative magnetic resonance imaging is a strong predictor of ASIA impairment scale grade conversion following decompressive surgery in cervical spinal cord injury. Neurosurgery. 2017;80(4):610–20. Doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyw053
Teasdale G, Maas A, Lecky F, Manley G, Stocchetti N, Murray G. The glasgow coma scale at 40 years: standing the test of time. Lancet Neurol. 2014;13(8):844–54. Doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(14)70120-6
De Vivo MJ, Stuart Krause J, Lammertse DP. Recent trends in mortality and causes of death among persons with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1999;80(11):1411–9. Doi: 10.1016/s0003-9993(99)90252-6
Fehlings MG, Vaccaro A, Wilson JR, Singh A, Cadotte DW, Harrop JS, et al. Early versus delayed decompression for traumatic cervical spinal cord injury: Results of the Surgical Timing in Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study (STASCIS). PLoS One. 2012;7(2):1-8. Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032037
Konrad M, Shah B, Rady E, Holden R, Lieber M, Hill JH, et al. Clinical risk factors associated with the need for tracheostomy in traumatic cervical and high thoracic spinal cord injury. Am J Surg. 2025;239:116033. Doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2024.116033
Esteban A, Anzueto A, Frutos F, Alía I, Brochard L, Stewart TE, et al. Characteristics and outcomes in adult patients receiving mechanical ventilation. JAMA. 2002;287(3):345-55. Doi: 10.1001/jama.287.3.345.
Wang CY, Calfee CS, Paul DW, Janz DR, May AK, Zhuo H, et al. One-year mortality and predictors of death among hospital survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Intensive Care Med. 2014;40(3):388–96. Doi: 10.1007/s00134-013-3186-3
Eskesen TG, Baekgaard JS, Peponis T, Moo Lee J, Saillant N, Kaafarani HMA, et al. Cervical spinal cord injury after blunt assault: Just a pain in the neck?. Amn J Surg. 2019;217(4):648–52. Doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.06.022
Copyright (c) 2025 Nashiruddin Nashiruddin

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The Contributor and the company/institution agree that all copies of the Final Published
Version or any part thereof distributed or posted by them in print or electronic format as permitted herein will include the notice of copyright as stipulated in the Journal and a full citation to the Journal.












