Treatment of pressure ulcers in patients with spinal cord injury: Conventional surgery vs. cellular therapy.

CONTEXT: Relapse and recurrence rates of pressure injuries (PIs) are very high in spinal cord injured patients. That is the reason why alternative therapies, such the stem cells derived from bone marrow, have been developed. OBJECTIVE: To compare this new technique of infiltration-infusion of mononuclear cells from bone marrow with conventional surgery. DESIGN: A retrospective study was carried out in patients with spinal cord injuries who had PIs, category III/IV, in the pelvic area, during a 14-year follow-up period. SETTING: One group was treated with conventional surgery and, in the other group, mononuclear cells were infused. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and forty-nine patients were registered, 63 (42.3%) in the conventional surgery group and 86 (57.7%) in the mononuclear cell group. RESULTS: A comparative study between these 2 groups was carried out. There were no significant differences in ulcer healing in the first 6 months, but 6 months and one-year post-treatment, they were found. At 6 months, no patient in the conventional surgery group showed dehiscence or fistulization of the wound and, one year after surgery, only 3.17% recurred in the conventional group. In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between days of hospitalization and the type of bacterial contamination and the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Bone marrow mononuclear cell infusion-infiltration is an alternative treatment for PIs and fistula during the first 6 months, instead of conventional surgery. However, in the medium-long term, conventional surgery is more effective.

Efficacy and safety of urinary catheters with silver alloy coating in patients with spinal cord injury: a multicentric pragmatic randomized controlled trial. The ESCALE trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) who carry indwelling urinary catheters have an increased risk of urinary tract infection (UTI). Antiseptic silver alloy-coated (SAC) silicone urinary catheters prove to be a promising intervention to reduce UTIs; however, current evidence cannot be extrapolated to patients with SCI. PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of SAC urinary catheters for preventing catheter-associated urinary tract infections. DESIGN/SETTING: This is an open-label, multicenter (developed in Spain, Portugal, Chile, Turkey, and Italy), randomized clinical trial conducted in 14 hospitals from November 2012 to December 2015. PATIENT SAMPLE: Eligible patients were men or women with traumatic or medical SCI, aged ≥18 years, requiring an indwelling urinary catheter for at least 7 days. OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the incidence of symptomatic UTIs. The secondary outcome included bacteremia in the urinary tract and adverse events. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were randomized to receive a SAC urinary catheter (experimental group) or a standard catheter (control group) for at least 7 days. Data were compared using chi-squared test and also calculating the absolute risk difference with a 95% confidence interval. An adjusted analysis including different risk factors of UTI was performed. This study was mainly funded by La Marató de TV3 Foundation (grant number # 112210) and the European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network organization. The funders had no role in the interpretation or reporting of results. RESULTS: A total of 489 patients were included in the study, aged 55 years in the experimental group and aged 57 in the control group (p=.870); 72% were men; 43% were hospitalized patients, and 57% were outpatients (p=1.0). The most frequent cause of SCI was traumatic (73.75%), and the localization was mainly the cervical spine (42.74%). Most of the patients had an A score (complete spinal injury and no motor and sensory is preserved) on the ASIA scale (62.37%). The median time of urethral catheterization was 27 days in the experimental group and 28 days in the control group (p=.202). Eighteen patients (7.41%) in the experimental group and 19 in the control (7.72%) group had a symptomatic UTI (odds ratio [OR] 0.96 [0.49-1.87]). The adjusted analysis revealed no change in the results. Only three patients in the experimental group had bacteremia within the urinary tract. The experimental group presented more adverse events related to the use of a catheter than the control group (OR 0.03 [0.00-0.06]). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study do not support the routine use of indwelling antiseptic SAC silicone urinary catheters in patients with SCI. However, UTIs associated to long-term urinary catheter use remain a challenge and further investigations are still needed.

[What kind of health information search the spinal cord injured patients from Spain on the internet?]. / ¿Qué información sobre su salud buscan los lesionados medulares Españoles en Internet?

INTRODUCTION: Internet is an alternative for health education to the population. Spinal cord injured individuals usually consult the Internet about their health problems. AIM: To identify the health information sources, the more consulted items and the confidence in Internet information of a group of spinal cord injured individuals from Spain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A survey to spinal cord injured individuals from Spain was conducted, with a questionnaire in Google Drive. It was accessible with a link in ASPAYM-Asturias web page. The questionnaire included epidemiological data and information about Internet use and confidence in its contents. RESULTS: 121 individuals answered the survey, 64% male, with an average age of 45 years. The predominant aetiology was traumatic (70%) and 72% were paraplegics. 83% prefer to consult health care providers directly. More of 70% of the sample searches health problems on the Internet, mostly web pages in Spanish. The preferred item was 'orthopaedic materials and wheelchairs'. 27% of the sample trusts in the Internet information and 32% don't. CONCLUSIONS: This research provides information about Internet use of spinal cord injured individuals in Spain. Although we have to admit some bias in the study, more than 70% of the sample searches health problems on the Internet, mostly web pages in Spanish. About one in four individuals trust in information from Internet and most of the sample prefers recommendations directly from healthcare professionals.

TITLE: Que informacion sobre su salud buscan los lesionados medulares espanoles en Internet?Introduccion. Internet es una alternativa para la educacion sanitaria en la poblacion. Los lesionados medulares consultan la red sobre cuestiones de su salud. Objetivo. Conocer cuales son las fuentes de informacion, los temas sobre salud mas consultados y la confianza en el material obtenido de la red por un grupo de lesionados medulares espanoles usuarios de Internet. Pacientes y metodos. Realizamos una encuesta a lesionados medulares espanoles mediante un cuestionario en Google Drive. Se accedia a el mediante un enlace en la pagina de ASPAYM-Asturias. El cuestionario incluia datos epidemiologicos y cuestiones sobre Internet, fuentes de informacion y confianza en ellas. Resultados. Contestaron 121 lesionados medulares (el 64%, hombres), con una edad media de 45 anos. La etiologia predominante era la traumatica (70%), y en el 72%, las lesiones eran paraplejias. El 83% prefiere consultar al personal sanitario. Busca en Internet mas del 70% de la muestra, y lo hace en paginas web en espanol. El tema de mayor interes es el material ortopedico. El 27% confia mucho o bastante en la informacion de la red, mientras que el 32% lo hace poco o nada. Conclusiones. Los resultados nos aproximan al uso de Internet que hacen los lesionados medulares espanoles. Asumiendo el sesgo inherente en un estudio de este tipo, mas del 70% de la muestra consulta sobre su salud en la red, sobre todo en paginas web espanolas. El tema mas buscado es 'material ortopedico y sillas de ruedas'. Solo uno de cada cuatro confia en los contenidos de la red, y la mayoria prefiere consultar sus problemas de salud directamente con los profesionales sanitarios.

¿Qué información sobre su salud buscan los lesionados medulares españoles en Internet? / What kind of health information search the spinal cord injured patients from Spain on the internet?

Introducción. Internet es una alternativa para la educación sanitaria en la población. Los lesionados medulares consultan la red sobre cuestiones de su salud. Objetivo. Conocer cuáles son las fuentes de información, los temas sobre salud más consultados y la confianza en el material obtenido de la red por un grupo de lesionados medulares españoles usuarios de Internet. Pacientes y métodos. Realizamos una encuesta a lesionados medulares españoles mediante un cuestionario en Google Drive. Se accedía a él mediante un enlace en la página de ASPAYM-Asturias. El cuestionario incluía datos epidemiológicos y cuestiones sobre Internet, fuentes de información y confianza en ellas. Resultados. Contestaron 121 lesionados medulares (el 64%, hombres), con una edad media de 45 años. La etiología predominante era la traumática (70%), y en el 72%, las lesiones eran paraplejías. El 83% prefiere consultar al personal sanitario. Busca en Internet más del 70% de la muestra, y lo hace en páginas web en español. El tema de mayor interés es el material ortopédico. El 27% confía mucho o bastante en la información de la red, mientras que el 32% confía poco o nada. Conclusiones. Los resultados nos aproximan al uso de Internet que hacen los lesionados medulares españoles. Asumiendoel sesgo inherente en un estudio de este tipo, más del 70% de la muestra consulta sobre su salud en la red, sobre todo en páginas web españolas. El tema más buscado es ‘material ortopédico y sillas de ruedas’. Sólo uno de cada cuatro confía en los contenidos de la red, y la mayoría prefiere consultar sus problemas de salud directamente con los profesionales sanitarios (AU)

Introduction. Internet is an alternative for health education to the population. Spinal cord injured individuals usually consult the Internet about their health problems. Aim. To identify the health information sources, the more consulted items and the confidence in Internet information of a group of spinal cord injured individuals from Spain. Patients and methods. A survey to spinal cord injured individuals from Spain was conducted, with a questionnaire in Google Drive. It was accessible with a link in ASPAYM-Asturias web page. The questionnaire included epidemiological data and information about Internet use and confidence in its contents. Results. 121 individuals answered the survey, 64% male, with an average age of 45 years. The predominant aetiology was traumatic (70%) and 72% were paraplegics. 83% prefer to consult health care providers directly. More of 70% of the sample searches health problems on the Internet, mostly web pages in Spanish. The preferred item was ‘orthopaedic materials and wheelchairs’. 27% of the sample trusts in the Internet information and 32% don’t. Conclusions. This research provides information about Internet use of spinal cord injured individuals in Spain. Although we have to admit some bias in the study, more than 70% of the sample searches health problems on the Internet, mostly web pages in Spanish. About one in four individuals trust in information from Internet and most of the sample prefers recommendations directly from healthcare professionals (AU)

A randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of urinary catheters with silver alloy coating in spinal cord injured patients: trial protocol.

BACKGROUND: Patients with non-acute spinal cord injury that carry indwelling urinary catheters have an increased risk of urinary tract infection (UTIs). Antiseptic Silver Alloy-Coated Silicone Urinary Catheters seems to be a promising intervention to reduce UTIs; however, actual evidence cannot be extrapolated to spinal cord injured patients. The aim of this trial is to make a comparison between the use of antiseptic silver alloy-coated silicone urinary catheters and the use of standard urinary catheters in spinal cord injured patients to prevent UTIs. METHODS/DESIGN: The study will consist in an open, randomized, multicentre, and parallel clinical trial with blinded assessment. The study will include 742 spinal cord injured patients who require at least seven days of urethral catheterization as a method of bladder voiding. Participants will be online centrally randomized and allocated to one of the two study arms (silver alloy-coated or standard catheters). Catheters will be used for a maximum period of 30 days or removed earlier if the clinician considers it necessary. The main outcome will be the incidence of UTIs by the time of catheter removal or at day 30 after catheterization, the event that occurs first. Intention-to-treat analysis will be performed, as well as a primary analysis of all patients. DISCUSSION: The aim of this study is to assess whether silver alloy-coated silicone urinary catheters improve ITUs in spinal cord injured patients. ESCALE is intended to be the first study to evaluate the efficacy of the silver alloy-coated catheters in spinal cord injured patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01803919.