Early versus late surgical intervention for cervical spinal cord injury A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

This study reviews the best timing for surgery after a cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Early surgery, within 24 hours, is compared to later surgery to see which leads to better outcomes. The review looks at various databases for randomized controlled trials on this topic. The study will assess the quality of the included studies and statistically analyze the data. The goal is to provide evidence-based recommendations for the optimal timing of surgical decompression in patients with acute SCI.

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  The primary outcome will be the change in the American Spinal Injury Association score from baseline to follow-up.
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  Secondary outcomes include neurological improvement rate, mortality, length of stay, and postoperative complications.
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  The risk of bias will be appraised using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for randomized controlled trials.