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Prognosis and outcome of chronic pain after spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma

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Abstract

Objective

Chronic pain is a common symptom experienced by patients after spontaneous epidural hematoma (SSEH), and it seriously affects their quality of life. The outcome and prognosis of chronic pain after SSEH are rarely reported. Thus, we conduct this study to present the outcomes and explore prognostic factors of chronic pain in patients with SSEH.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed patients diagnosed with SSEH and invited them to complete the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) scales. Pearson χ2 and binary logistic regression were used to explore prognostic factors related to chronic pain after SSEH.

Results

A total of 55 patients were reviewed; 21 patients (38.2%) were lost to follow-up, 3 patients (5.4%) died, and 31 patients (56.4%) completed the scales, with a mean follow-up time of 20.6 ± 17.3 months. The ASIA and NPSI results showed significant improvement after surgery. Pearson χ2 showed that timely surgery (≤ 12 h) was related to better outcomes (p < 0.05, Fisher test), and binary logistic regression revealed that patients with a preoperative NPSI score of 11–20 were prone to achieving significant pain relief (OR 23.67, 95%CI 1.11–503.48, p = 0.04).

Conclusion

Chronic pain is a common symptom during follow-up after SSEH, and timely intervention is suggested to obtain satisfactory outcomes. Patients who receive emergent surgery within 12 h or who have a preoperative NPSI score of 11–20 may achieve significant relief of chronic pain.

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Correspondence to Cong Wu.

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The authors declare no conflict of interests.

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This study was approved by Ethics Committee of West China hospital. All procedures performed in the studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Luo, M., He, M. & Wu, C. Prognosis and outcome of chronic pain after spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma. Acta Neurol Belg 123, 1849–1854 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-022-02092-y

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