Pneumonia and Dysphagia after Cervical Spine Trauma

Introduction: In patients with cervical spine trauma (CST) or cervical spinal cord injury (C-SCI), literature reports the incidence of dysphagia at 17% and 30%, respectively. It remains unclear whether diagnosing dysphagia during an index admission (IA) would help prevent subsequent pneumonia or whether it would simply reflect a risk for future pneumonia. We hypothesized that IA dysphagia would be associated with greater future pneumonia-related readmission. Methods: We identified patients with CST or C-SCI from the Nationwide Readmissions Database. Readmissions within 90 days of discharge were identified, and logistic regression identified factors associated with 90-day readmission and pneumonia. Factors included age, C-SCI, pneumonia at IA, dysphagia at IA, comorbidity count, ISS, index discharge destination, and payer type. Results: Of 27,752 patients with CST, 23.6% had C-SCI (median age 58; median ISS 16). A total of 9% of all patients with CST had dysphagia (13% for C-SCI). In total, 11.9% of IA survivors were readmitted within 90 days and 16.8% had a diagnosis of pneumonia. In adjusted logistic regression, dysphagia at IA was not associated with readmission or pneumonia. Pneumonia, C-SCI, and tracheostomy at IA were associated with pneumonia at readmission. Conclusion: The incidence of IA dysphagia for patients with CST in this study was low, suggesting under-diagnosis. Pneumonia was common at both IA and readmission for patients with CST and C-SCI. Pneumonia at IA, tracheostomy, and C-SCI were strong predictors of pneumonia at readmission. Due to the discordant dysphagia rates, protocolized screening for dysphagia during IA may be key to understanding pneumonia-related readmission.