The evaluation of Methylprednisolone's Therapy Effects in Patients with Acute Spinal Cord Injuries: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to obtain a comprehensive conclusion about the efficacy or lack of effectiveness of Methylprednisolone in the recovery of ASCI patients. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search was undertaken in the electronic resources with consideration of the provisions contained in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). After identifying the search keywords as "Methylprednisolone", "Spinal Cord Injury," "Acute OR Traumatic," the search was conducted without any limitation at the original date of these electronic resources until 1/8/2018. All studies published in English were included in the study. Results: In the Bracken study, statistically significant complications were pneumonia and severe sepsis in 6-week follow-up of 48-hour methylprednisolone group while in the Pointillart study, hyperglycemia was the only complication that had a statistically significant difference in favor of groups with the methylprednisolone regimen. According to the Bracken study, in the 24M group 5.42%, in the 48M group 7.18% and in the 48T group 6.02% of the patients, totally 31 case of 499 patients (6.21%) and in the Pointillart study, 5 case of 106 patients (4.71%) died, which is relatively high rate of death, whereas the effect of this treatment is not accepted yet.