Project

Clinical and sociomedical parameters will be determined during acute and long-term treatment as well as controlled clinical investigations, in the lifelong management of paraplegic patients. Demographic data of patients, previous diseases, causes and severity of spinal cord injury, the time from the onset of paralysis to the operation, and routinely used treatment concepts such as surgery and medication will be registered. Data concerning paraplegia-specific complications in the course of the patients’ lives, the outcome of neurological rehabilitation, the sociomedical outcome, and overall survival will also be investigated.

Primary endpoints are the rate of paraplegia-specific complications (infections, neuropathic pain, decubitus ulcers, heterotopic ossifications and other complications) and overall survival.

Secondary endpoints are the risk-benefit ratio of the treatment concepts, including the potential risks of drug therapy (such as hemorrhage, adverse drug reactions, etc.), the neurological classification (ISNCSCI), patient satisfaction, costs borne by insurance funds, and the ratio between the patients’ need for care and their ability to work.

Depending on the etiology of the injury, patients will be divided into four groups:

  1. Patients with traumatic spinal cord injury
  2. Patients with inflammatory paraplegia
  3. Patients with tumor-related paraplegia
  4. Patients with paraplegia due to other causes

Inclusion criteria:

  • Paraplegia or paraplegic syndrome due to traumatic injury, infection, tumor, or other causes
  • Age older than 14 years

Exclusion criteria:

  • No patient consent
  • Paraplegic syndrome with a dissociative disorders of movement
  • Multiple sclerosis or other neuroimmunological diseases with damage to the spinal cord