Weekend versus Weekday Admission in Spinal Cord Injury and Its Effect on Timing of Surgical Intervention.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to compare timing of intervention for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) requiring surgical procedures during weekend versus weekday admissions.

METHODS

The National Inpatient Sample database from 2012 to 2014 was queried to identify patients with SCI who underwent surgical treatment (decompression with or without stabilization) as an emergent/urgent procedure. Timing of intervention, inpatient morbidity, and inpatient mortality were compared between patients admitted during the weekend versus a weekday. Multiple logistic regression analyses were also performed.

RESULTS

A total of 9390 patients were identified (mean age 55 years, 73.2% male) from the database, with 34.1% admitted during the weekend and 65.9% during a weekday. The average day of intervention for the entire cohort was 2.8 (SD 3.9, interquartile range 1-4); day 2.7 (standard deviation [SD] 4.0) versus day 2.8 ([SD] 3.9) for patients admitted in a weekend versus weekday (P = 0.418). After controlling for patient age, sex, and injury severity score on multiple logistic regression analysis, weekend admission was not significantly associated with early intervention (odds ratio [OR] 0.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-1.21; P = 0.993), complication occurrence (OR 1.09; 95% CI, 0.86-1.38; P = 0.476), or inpatient mortality (OR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.44-1.56; P = 0.563). Patients with complete/American Spinal Injury Association A injuries were more likely to undergo early intervention (OR 2.09; 95% CI, 1.31-3.31; P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

In this national study, patients with SCI who were admitted during the weekend received surgical intervention as early as patients admitted during a weekday. Furthermore, no differences in complication or mortality rates between groups were found.