Experts Recommend Against Use of Steroids to Treat Spinal Injury

In a path breaking new announcement, the country’s leading neurological surgeons are recommending against the use of steroids to treat a patient in the early stages of acute spinal injury. The recommendation was made by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The recommendation was contained in a list of 112 evidence-based recommendations by these associations.

In contrast to the earlier guidelines, one of the recommendations is that the steroid methylprednisolone not be used in the treatment of acute spinal injury, 24 or 48 hours after the injury. That deadline was reversed because of the absence of medical evidence in support of the benefits of using these drugs. In fact, according to the report, there is strong evidence that high dosage steroids, like methylprednisolone could actually be harmful, and could cause adverse effects in the patient.

According to the report, the use of steroids in persons suffering acute spinal injury has been associated with a number of side effects and complications. These include the development of sepsis in the patient, a much higher incidence of infections, and increased complications. Patients who received these steroids soon after they suffered a spinal cord injury ended up staying for much longer in the intensive care unit.The new recommendations are very clear, and allow no room for misunderstanding. They provide clear directions to neurosurgeons about avoiding steroid use immediately after a spinal cord injury.

Spinal injuries are extremely catastrophic injuries because there’s co complete cure for these injuries. Depending on the severity or degree of the spinal injury, a person may suffer from paraplegia which is the loss of the lower limbs, or quadriplegia, which refers to the loss in movement and sensation in upper and lower limbs of the body.

The Houston Personal Injury Lawyers at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers represent victims of spinal injury across Texas.