Analysis of risk factors of respiratory complications in patients with cervical spinal cord injury and their implications for improving nursing intervention

Abstract

Objective To investigate the main risk factors of respiratory complications in patients with cervical spinal cord injury so as to provide reference for early nursing assessment and personalized nursing intervention model. Methods A retrospective case series study was conducted on the clinical data of 303 patients with cervical spinal cord injury admitted to the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 2015 and September 2016. There were 248 males and 55 females, aged (44.9±13.8)years (range, 14-70 years). There were 109 cases at fracture site C1-4 and 194 cases at C5-8. According to ASIA classification, 131 cases were grade A, 26 cases grade B, 42 cases grade C, and 104 cases grade D. The duration from injury to operation was (23.2±69.9)hours (range, 6-48 hours). Univariate analysis was performed on the risk factors of respiratory complications, including gender, age (14-54, 55-65, and 66-70 years old), occupation, hospital stay, smoking history, previous history, ASIA grade (grades A to D), injury cause, complications (abdominal distension, hyponatremia, hypoproteinemia, and anemia). Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the significant risk factors in the univariate analysis so as to further identify risk factors associated with respiratory complications. Results Univariate analysis showed that age (55-65 and 66-70 years), ASIA grade A, ASIA grade B, smoking history, injury cause, complications (abdominal distension, hyponatremia, hypoproteinemia, and anaemia) were related to respiratory complication of patients with cervical spinal cord injury (P 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that age between 55 and 65 years (OR=3.989, P<0.05), age between 66 and 70 years(OR=0.301, P<0.05), AISA grade A (OR=30.300, P<0.05), ASIA grade B (OR=5.784, P<0.05), smoking history (OR=5.238, P<0.05), abdominal distension (OR=1.975, P<0.05), hypoproteinemia (OR=6.212, P<0.05), and hyponatremia (OR=3.233, P<0.05) were independent risk factors for respiratory complications in patients with spinal cord injury. Except for ASIA classification, other factors might be easily ignored by doctors and nurses, leading to poor prognosis of patients. Conclusions Age (above 55 years), ASIA grades A and B, smoking history, abdominal distention, hypoproteinemia, and hyponatremia are the risk factors of respiratory complications in patients with cervical spinal cord injury. Based on the results, early nursing assessment can be carried out and personalized nursing measures can be taken to reduce the incidence of respiratory complications. It can also provide reference for constructing standardized nursing intervention model. Key words: Cervical vertebrae; Spinal cord injuries; Respiratory system; Risk factors; Nursing care