Letter to the Editor: On Primary Care and Spinal Cord Injury

This letter discusses the challenges in providing primary care for individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). It supports an interdisciplinary approach but suggests that developing standardized primary care guidelines may be premature due to a lack of outcomes research on secondary complications. The authors emphasize the need for more research on treatments and outcomes related to common and potentially life-threatening cardio-metabolic complications in people with chronic SCI. Without this research, establishing effective clinical protocols and treatment expectations is difficult. Until substantial research addresses the cardio-metabolic complications of chronic SCI, the goal of standardized and thorough primary care for people with SCI will remain out of reach.

• 1
  The authors agree with the need for an interdisciplinary approach to primary care for SCI patients, as highlighted in Dr. Ho's article.
• 2
  The letter identifies a critical gap in outcomes research concerning secondary complications and cardio-metabolic complications in SCI patients.
• 3
  Standardized SCI primary care guidelines may be premature due to the lack of research on the treatment of secondary complications.