Spine surgeon traumatic spinal cord injury practice differences based on spine fellowship.
| Practice Regarding Spinal Cord Injuries | Dedicated Spine Fellowship | P Value | |||
| Yes | No | ||||
| n | % | n | % | ||
| Your practice regarding giving steroids in acute spinal cord–injured patient | 0.098 | ||||
| I never give steroids | 29 | 54.7% | 14 | 31.1% | |
| I give if injury is less than 8 h | 10 | 18.9% | 13 | 28.9% | |
| I give if injury is less than 24 h | 8 | 15.1% | 13 | 28.9% | |
| I give regardless of time of the injury | 6 | 11.3% | 5 | 11.1% | |
| If you give steroids, how long you keep patient on it? | 0.390 | ||||
| 1 dose | 3 | 12.5% | 4 | 12.9% | |
| Up to 12 h | 1 | 4.2% | 0 | 0.0% | |
| Up to 24 h | 8 | 33.3% | 16 | 51.6% | |
| Up to 48 h | 12 | 50.0% | 11 | 35.5% | |
| Steroid medication administered | 0.824 | ||||
| Dexamethasone | 10 | 41.7% | 12 | 38.7% | |
| Methylprednisolone sodium succinate | 14 | 58.3% | 19 | 61.3% | |
| Do you admit isolated spinal cord injury patients in high-dependency unit? | 0.308 | ||||
| Yes, all of them | 21 | 39.6% | 13 | 28.9% | |
| Only cervical cord injury | 19 | 35.8% | 21 | 46.7% | |
| Depends on availability of beds | 7 | 13.2% | 9 | 20.0% | |
| None of them | 6 | 11.3% | 2 | 4.4% | |
| Do you aim to keep the mean arterial pressure in a certain range? | 0.681 | ||||
| Yes | 43 | 81.1% | 35 | 77.8% | |
| No | 10 | 18.9% | 10 | 22.2% | |
| Do you try to do early decompression? | 0.478 | ||||
| I always do decompression in less than 24 h of the injury | 31 | 58.5% | 27 | 60.0% | |
| I believe in early decompression, but the facility does not allow this practice | 8 | 15.1% | 8 | 17.8% | |
| Whenever operating room time is available | 7 | 13.2% | 8 | 17.8% | |
| I don’t believe early decompression adds neurological benefit | 7 | 13.2% | 2 | 4.4% | |