Autonomic dysreflexia and nursing interventions for patients with spinal cord injury

Abstract

This retrospective study, performed in 2009, aimed to identify nursing diagnoses and interventions for the care of patients with spinal cord injury. Data were collected from the nursing records of 465 patients with SCI undergoing rehabilitation. The nursing diagnosis Risk for autonomic dysreflexia was identified in 271 clinical records (58, 3%). Approximately 80 patients developed autonomic dysreflexia, with a predominance in young men around 35.7 years old, who had experienced a trauma as the main cause of the injury. Their neurological injury level was at the sixth thoracic vertebra or above. Nursing interventions were arranged in two groups, one focused on prevention and the other on treatment. An intervention guide was developed and can be used by nurses in their clinical practice of rehabilitation and can be included into information systems. The removal of the stimulus which causes autonomic dysreflexia was identified as the most effective therapy and the best intervention