1
|
Aderinto N. Letter: Building a Strong Neurosurgical Landscape in Africa: Leveraging Medical Students' Potential for Empowerment and Advancement. Neurosurgery 2023; 93:e144-e145. [PMID: 37695050 DOI: 10.1227/neu.0000000000002681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Aderinto
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso , Nigeria
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Azad TD, Nair SK, Kalluri AL, Materi J, Ahmed AK, Khalifeh J, Abu-Bonsrah N, Sharwood LN, Sterner RC, Brooks NP, Alomari S, Musharbash FN, Mo K, Lubelski D, Witham TF, Theodore N, Bydon A. Delays in Presentation After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury-A Systematic Review. World Neurosurg 2023; 169:e121-e130. [PMID: 36441093 DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2022.10.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prompt surgical decompression after traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) may be associated with improved sensorimotor outcomes. Delays in presentation may prevent timely decompression after TSCI. OBJECTIVE To systematically review existing studies investigating delays in presentation after TSCI in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). METHODS A systematic review was conducted and studies featuring quantitative or qualitative data on prehospital delays in TSCI presentation were included. Studies lacking quantitative or qualitative data on prehospital delays in TSCI presentation, case reports or series with <5 patients, review articles, or animal studies were excluded from our analysis. RESULTS After exclusion criteria were applied, 24 studies were retained, most of which were retrospective. Eleven studies were from LMICs and 13 were from HICs. Patients with TSCI in LMICs were younger than those in HICs, and most patients were male in both groups. A greater proportion of patients with TSCI in studies from LMICs presented >24 hours after injury (HIC average proportion, 12.0%; LMIC average proportion, 49.9%; P = 0.01). Financial barriers, lack of patient awareness and education, and prehospital transportation barriers were more often cited as reasons for delays in LMICs than in HICs, with prehospital transportation barriers cited as a reason for delay by every LMIC study included in this review. CONCLUSIONS Disparities in prehospital infrastructure between HICs and LMICs subject more patients in LMICs to increased delays in presentation to care.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tej D Azad
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Sumil K Nair
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Anita L Kalluri
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Joshua Materi
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - A Karim Ahmed
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Jawad Khalifeh
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Nancy Abu-Bonsrah
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Research Department, Association of Future African Neurosurgeons, Yaounde, Cameroon
| | - Lisa N Sharwood
- John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research, Kolling Institute, Sydney Medical School-Northern, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Robert C Sterner
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Nathaniel P Brooks
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Safwan Alomari
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Farah N Musharbash
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Kevin Mo
- Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Daniel Lubelski
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Timothy F Witham
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Nicholas Theodore
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Ali Bydon
- Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
| |
Collapse
|