Survival after rehabilitation for spinal cord injury due to tumor: a 12-year retrospective study

Metastatic spinal cord compression occurs in 2.5% of cancer patients in the last 5 years of life. Spinal cord injury (SCI) due to tumors accounts for 26–45% of non-traumatic SCI. With the aging population and improving survival, the number of patients with SCI due to tumor who have the capacity to benefit from rehabilitation is increasing. This study planned to document survival in patients with primary and secondary tumors causing SCI admitted to a spinal rehabilitation unit over a 12-year period. This is a retrospective open-cohort case series of patients admitted to a Spinal Rehabilitation Unit between 1 July 1996 and 30 June 2008 with a diagnosis of tumor causing SCI. Linkage to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Victoria) was used to calculate survival in months following discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. 108 patients were included in the study cohort of which 62% (n = 67) were male. The median age was 61.5 years (IQR 53.6–74). The majority of patients had paraplegia (n = 97, 89.8%) and a metastatic tumor (n = 71, 65.7%) causing their SCI. Most (n = 78, 72%) patients died during the study period. The median survival for primary tumors was significantly greater (Cox regression HR = 1.8, P = 0.03) 9.5 months (IQR 2.8–34.4 months) than that for metastatic tumors (median 2.8, IQR 1.2–9.0 months). Conclusion: Patients with longer survival are appropriate for rehabilitation programs targeting longer-term goals whilst patients with shorter survival are more suitable for short, directed rehabilitation programs.