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

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

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