Bladder management, severity of injury and period of latency: a descriptive study on 135 patients with spinal cord injury and bladder cancer

This study looks at bladder cancer in people with spinal cord injuries. It examines how the type of bladder management, severity of the spinal cord injury, and the time since the injury affect the risk and characteristics of bladder cancer. The study found that bladder cancer tends to occur later in the course of spinal cord injury. Also, the time between the spinal cord injury and bladder cancer diagnosis was longer in patients who didn't use catheters or had lower motor neuron lesions. The research suggests that regular check-ups for bladder cancer should be more frequent as the time since the spinal cord injury increases. The parameters like severity of spinal cord lesion and bladder emptying methods are not suitable to define vulnerable subpopulations.

• 1
  No significant differences were found in tumor characteristics when stratified by bladder management, SCI/D severity, and ASIA classification.
• 2
  The mean latency period between SCI/D onset and bladder cancer diagnosis was significantly longer in patients with catheter-free emptying methods.
• 3
  The mean latency period between SCI/D onset and bladder cancer diagnosis was significantly longer in patients with LMNL compared to patients with UMNL.