Global Neurotrauma Outcomes Study: Spine

Background Traumatic spinal injury (TSI) accounts for a significant proportion of disability and death worldwide, with the majority of this burden affecting individuals in low- to middle- income countries. Crucially, to date, the current disease profile of TSI has not been characterised globally. In addition, the global approach to the care of patients following TSI is inconsistent with considerable geographical differences in process of care reported, and limited data available on the impact of these variations on outcomes following TSI. A better understanding of case-mix and processes of care is urgently needed to underpin efforts to identify ways of improving outcome relevant to different socioeconomic settings globally.

Objectives The primary objective of this study is to characterise the case-mix, processes of care and variations in nonoperative and operative management strategies, including emergency, ward, ICU care, in patients presenting with traumatic spinal injury (TSI) between centres across low and high Human Development Index (HDI) countries. The secondary aims are to summarise current local resources and management pathways for TSI through validation of provider profiling data, describe differences in indications for nonoperative and operative management, and short-term outcomes following TSI. This study aims to identify gaps in processes of care to identify targets for future interventions to improve TSI care across high and low-resource settings.

Methods A multi-centre, international, prospective, observational study. Any unit assessing patients with TSI worldwide will be eligible to participate. Each participating unit will form a study team responsible for gaining local approval, identifying patients for inclusion and conducting data collection. Data will be collected via a secure online platform in an anonymised form. Processes of care will be characterised by a detailed provider profiling exercise. A registry describing the case-mix and care of all adults presenting with radiologically confirmed TSI will be collected, in a given consecutive 30-day period during the study period starting in 2021.

Results The dataset, developed through an iterative feedback process involving clinicians from low and high Human Development Index (HDI) countries, includes patient demographics, details of injury mechanism, local injury management and, if applicable, timing and nature of surgery, post-operative care and immediate postoperative complications. Outcome measures include Frankel grade at 6 weeks post-admission (or at discharge or death, whichever event occurs first), early mortality, peri-operative complications, adverse events of special interest, functional status and mobility. Descriptive analyses of case-mix and the variations in processes of care will be conducted. Available resources, use of guidelines and variations in processes of care will be characterised using both provider profiling responses and patient-level data collected. Areas where known best practice is deficient or unavailable will be identified as potential targets for future implementation studies.

Conclusions GNOS Spine aims to provide a global snapshot of the case-mix, management, processes of care and short-term outcomes of patients presenting with TSI. In addition, the study aims to identify areas for further study, and establish a platform and clinical network to facilitate this future research in global neurotrauma and spinal surgery.