Roadblocks to early surgery for patients with cervical spine injury

Objectives To determine the time taken for a cervical spine injury patient from the time of injury to the operating table in a tertiary care setting and to identify the roadblocks and reasons for the delay in surgery in these cases. Material and Methods We conducted an observational study by retrospective evaluation of prospective collected case records of 20 patients of traumatic cervical spine injury between June 2023 to October 2023 who underwent surgical management and recorded all the demographic, injury characteristics and time taken from injury to surgery, and the reasons for delay. Results The mean referral distance for these cases was 157.2 ± 86.13 km, and meantime for the injury to presentation was 60.4 ± 83.7 hours and presentation to surgery was 96.45 ± 64.49 hours, and the main reasons for the delay were a delay in presentation and unavailability of the slot of the operating room and intensive care facility. Conclusion Though there is evidence to support early decompression as an effective modality for traumatic cervical spine injury, there is a gap in the translation of this knowledge into practice due to practical reasons that need proper planning and streamlining to improve patient outcomes.