Fall accidents are the most frequent cause of spinal cord injuries involving maritime workers. These are some of the most catastrophic injuries, and can lead to lifelong devastating consequences for the worker. These injuries are so catastrophic because there is no complete for spinal injury. However, there has been a lot of interesting new research recently that has yielded promising findings.
The results of one such study, that was conducted over the last 6 years, have recently been released, and clearly indicate that the use of mild hypothermia or body cooling in patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury, can help increase neuroprotection in the patient.
The study was conducted by the Miami Project to Analysis, and the results of the study seem to provide clear evidence that the use of mild hypothermia can be a safe as well as an effective way to treat acute spinal cord injury. In the research, 35 patients who had suffered a severe cervical spinal cord injury underwent a systemic intravascular cooling to bring down the body temperature to 33°C.
After the cooling treatment, the researchers measured the improvements in those patients who received the hypothermia treatment and compared the results to those patients who had not been given the hypothermia treatment. They found that approximately 43% of the patients who had been given the hypothermia treatment showed much better neurological outcomes, compared to patients who had not been given the hypothermia treatment.
The researchers are now making plans to expand the research to further study this association.
If you are a maritime worker who has recently suffered a spinal injury that has left you in pain, or disabled and unable to walk, speak with a maritime lawyer at our firm.
