Spinal cord injury in the emergency context: review of program outcomes of a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program in Sri Lanka

Conflict and Health, 2014 · DOI: 10.1186/1752-1505-8-4 · Published: March 20, 2014

Spinal Cord Injury Trauma Rehabilitation

Simple Explanation

The conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009 led to many spinal cord injuries. A rehabilitation program was started by Médecins Sans Frontières. Patients in the program received multidisciplinary care including nursing, physiotherapy, and mental health support, with the goal of achieving independence in daily living. The program tracked patient progress using standardized measures and aimed to discharge patients back to the community with improved function and reduced complications.

Study Duration

November 2009 and December 2010

Participants

89 patients with spinal cord injuries

Evidence Level

Retrospective analysis of programmatic data

Key Findings

1
The majority of patients (83.2%) were successfully discharged to the community.
2
Patients showed a significant improvement in SCIM score from admission to discharge (p < 0.01).
3
There was a reduction in post spinal cord injury complications from those experienced either at or during admission.

Research Summary

This study evaluates a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program implemented in Sri Lanka following the 2009 conflict, demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of providing such care in a complex humanitarian emergency. The program utilized a multidisciplinary approach and partnerships with local and international organizations to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services, resulting in significant functional improvements and reduced complications for patients. The findings suggest that even with delayed access to medical care, substantial clinical improvement is possible, highlighting the importance of early rehabilitation and the need for streamlined approaches to reduce costs and length of stay.

Practical Implications

Humanitarian Response

Demonstrates the feasibility of SCI rehabilitation in emergency settings.

Program Design

Highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and partnerships.

Resource Allocation

Emphasizes the need for streamlining approaches to reduce costs and length of stay.

Study Limitations

1
Analysis was done on routinely collected programmatic data, which may have had an impact on data quality.
2
Missing data may have impacted the results of our analyses.
3
The patients for whom data on these variables was available did have a significantly higher SCIM-score at discharge compared to those who we did not have information on (p = 0.04).

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