Post

New research · Internal Medicine
Global spine journal · 3h
Cohort studyGlobal spine journal · 2026

Early Surgical Decompression and Pulmonary Embolism Risk in Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: A Propensity Score-Matched National Analysis.

Samer G Salman, Rohan A Phadke, Nathan J Lee
Read paper
Internal MedicineCohort study

Early cervical decompression not associated with in-hospital pulmonary embolism risk

Early Surgical Decompression and Pulmonary Embolism Risk in Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: A Propensity Score-Matched National Analysis.

Samer G Salman … Nathan J Lee
Global spine journal · 2026
Purpose

To determine whether early cervical decompression is associated with in-hospital pulmonary embolism (pulmonary embolism) after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (spinal cord injury).

Methods

Were matched 1:1 using 30 covariates.

Results

similar pulmonary embolism risk with early versus delayed decompression

OR by subgroup · 95% CI
null = 1
detected PE
0.97
null negative-control outcome
1.10
similar
0.88
in-hospital mortality overall
1.54
More results

Among 11,530 decompression-coded patients, matching yielded 4,480 balanced pairs.

No subgroup interaction was significant after multiplicity correction.

“
Conclusion · 1 of 2

Early cervical decompression after traumatic cervical spinal cord injury was not associated with increased detected in-hospital pulmonary embolism.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

pulmonary embolism risk alone should not justify delaying otherwise indicated decompression, but differential mortality and residual confounding require cautious interpretation and prospective confirmation.

Read paper
0 comments

No comments yet. Be the first.

Related papers

LatestFoundational
Cohort Study
0.8%
an oversedation event needing naloxone reversal was rare
Randomized Trial
t = -4.35
intervention caregivers asked more questions than controls
Cohort Study
67.8%
one-year survival was far worse than the intermediate-risk group's, roughly one in three died
Review
50-100%
rheumatoid arthritis raises blood clot risk well above the general population
Cross-sectional
SIR 9.93
risk climbs sharply when relatives cluster and clotting starts young
Study
82.5%
guideline-recommended anticoagulation reached most hospitalized af patients after screening
Study
7.74
Average knowledge score rose from 5.24 to 7.74 after the education intervention
Cohort Study
34.4%
just over a third stayed safely anticoagulated, most were not