Table 1. Case series of fever following acute traumatic SCI.
| Primary author | Recorded time of fever | Prospective or retrospective | No. of SCI patients | Definition of fever | No. of patients presenting with fever | Incidence of fever (%) | Total no. of febrile events in all SCI patients | Mean LOS (d) | Mean age (y) | No. of patients with fever of unknown origin | Incidence of fever of unknown origin (%) | Mean duration of undiagnosed fever (d) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beraldo4 | NR | Prospective | 129 | Axillary temperature ≥ 38°C | 62 | 48.1 | 75 | NR | NR | 6 | 4.7 | NR |
| Colachis2 | NR | Retrospective | 156 | Core body temperature > 37.7°C | 60 | 38.5 | NR | 82.7 (rehab) | 31 | 4 | 2.6 | 3.8 |
| Commichau36 | NR | Prospective | 387 | First temperature ≥ 38.3°C | 87 | 22.5 | NR | 3.3 | 54 | 26 | 6.7 | NR |
| McKinley5 | Acute | Retrospective | 48 | Any recorded temperature > 37.7°C | 29 | 60.4 | 58 | NR | 41 | NR | NR | 2.2 |
| Rehab | Retrospective | 40 | 20 | 50.0 | 66 | NR | 42 | NR | NR | 1.4 | ||
| Sugarman1 | NR | Retrospective | 46 | NR | 33 | 71.7 | 106 | NR | 42 | 3 | 6.5 | NR |
| NR | Prospective | 70 | 46 | 65.7 | 71 | 67 (acute and rehab) | 41 | 3 | 4.3 | NR | ||
| Ulger10 | Acute | Retrospective | 18 | NR | 5 | NR | NR | 7.6 | 42 | 5 | 27.8 | 5.2 |
| Unsal-Delialioglu3 | Rehab | Retrospective | 392 | Elevation of body temperature > 37.7°C at least twice in 24 h | 187 | 47.7 | NR | 54.86 (rehab) | 37 | 13 | 3.3 | NR |
Abbreviations: LOS, length of stay; NR, not recorded; SCI, spinal cord injury.