Impact of Surgical Timing on Motor Level Lowering in Motor Complete Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Patients with complete traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) have a low potential to recover ambulation. Motor level recovery, adjacent to the level of injury, could influence functional independency. This study addresses whether surgical timing influences motor level recovery in patients with motor complete (American Spinal Injury Association [ASIA] Impairment Scale A [AIS A]) and motor incomplete (AIS B) tSCI. A retrospective cohort study was performed in the Netherlands in patients with AIS A/B tSCI (C2-L2), who consecutively underwent surgery between January 2010 and April 2020. Neurological examination was performed directly at presentation to the emergency room and at discharge from the rehabilitation facility. Motor level lowering, AIS grade, and upper and lower extremity motor score recovery were calculated for patients who underwent early (< 24 h) and late (24 h+) surgery. A total of 96 patients met the inclusion criteria. In the multi-variate analysis, late surgical decompression (24 h+) was negatively associated with ≥1 motor level lowering and ≥2 AIS grade improvement [odds ratio (OR) 0.11 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01, 0.67], p  = 0.046, and OR 0.06 [95% CI: 0.00, 047], p  = 0.030. respectively). The presence of sacral sparing (AIS B) at initial examination, and cervical level of the tSCI were associated with ≥1 motor level lowering. In addition, AO Spine C-type injuries were negatively associated with any type of neurological recovery, except motor level lowering. Although sensorimotor complete injuries as well as thoracolumbar injuries negatively influence neurological recovery, early surgical decompression (< 24 h) appears independently associated with enhanced neurological recovery in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury despite level and severity of injury.