Complications of spinal cord injuries: Two case reports and a review of the literature

Abstract

Spinal cord injuries are a health problem that affects many systems and leads to physical restrictions associated with the level at which the spinal cord is affected. It may be necessary to maintain early and late-stage treatment under intensive care conditions according to the degree of dysfunction that develops as a result of the level affected in the spinal cord. With the appropriate early treatment,survival increases in these patients. However,care must be taken with respect to complications that may develop while the patient is undergoing treatment and intervention must be made for these complications to provide patient comfort. In this paper,we present two cases of patients with cervical fractures who developed cardiovascular and respiratory problems while in the intensive care unit.