Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40009251›Full record

ArticlePediatric surgery international2025

Comparison of cervical versus thoracic spinal cord injury outcomes in pediatric trauma patients.

Alice M Martino, Areg Grigorian, Catherine M Kuza, Sigrid Burruss, Lourdes Swentek, Yigit Guner, Laura F Goodman, Jeffry Nahmias

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pediatric surgery international, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Alice M MartinoDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, 333 The City Blvd West, Suite 1600, Orange, CA, 92868-3298, USA.
Areg GrigorianDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, 333 The City Blvd West, Suite 1600, Orange, CA, 92868-3298, USA.
Catherine M KuzaDepartment of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
Sigrid BurrussDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, 333 The City Blvd West, Suite 1600, Orange, CA, 92868-3298, USA.
Lourdes SwentekDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, 333 The City Blvd West, Suite 1600, Orange, CA, 92868-3298, USA.
Yigit GunerDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Orange County, Orange, CA, USA.
Laura F GoodmanDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Orange County, Orange, CA, USA.
Jeffry NahmiasDepartment of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, 333 The City Blvd West, Suite 1600, Orange, CA, 92868-3298, USA. jnahmias@hs.uci.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo explore differences based on level of pediatric spinal cord injury (SCI), we compared cervical and thoracic SCI in pediatric trauma patients (PTPs), hypothesizing higher mortality and length of stay (LOS) for cervical SCI.

methodsThe 2017-2021 Trauma Quality Improvement Program was queried for all PTPs ≤ 17 years-old with cervical or thoracic SCI. Bivariate analyses compared the two groups. The primary outcome was mortality and secondary outcomes included hospital LOS and injury severity scores (ISS). Logistic regression models were used to determine independent risk factors for death and prolonged ventilation.

resultsOf 5280 PTPs, 2538 (65.9%) had cervical SCI and 1316 (34.1%) had thoracic SCI. Motor vehicle collisions were the most common cause of both cervical and thoracic SCI (37.8 and 41.9%). PTPs with thoracic SCI had higher rates of positive drug screen as compared to cervical SCI (39.2 vs 29.8%, p = 0.001). PTPs with thoracic SCI had higher median ISS (25 vs 16, p < 0.001), while cervical SCI had higher mortality (13 vs 6.1%, p < 0.001) but decreased hospital LOS (median 9 vs 5 days, p < 0.001. Cervical SCI were associated with a nearly fourfold increase in the risk of death (95% CI 2.750-5.799, p < 0.001) and a 1.6-fold increase in the risk of prolonged ventilator requirement (95% CI 1.228-2.068, p < 0.001).

conclusionsPTPs with cervical SCI have higher mortality while those with thoracic SCI have higher ISS and hospital LOS. Cervical SCI were associated with a fourfold higher risk of death. MVC was the most common cause of injury, and both groups had high rates of positive drug screens. Understanding differing outcomes may assist providers with prognostication and injury prevention.

Indexed as

Cervical CordCervical VertebraeSpinal Cord InjuriesThoracic VertebraeAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantInjury Severity ScoreLength of StayMaleRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsMortalityPediatric traumaSpinal cord injurySubstance use

Identifiers

PMID40009251
PMCPMC11865126

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.