Abstract
BackgroundTraumatic spinal cord injury remains a serious public health and social problem. Although incidence rates are decreasing in our environment, it is a high cost condition that is associated with great disability. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological and demographic characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injury and to analyse its epidemiological changes.MethodsThis study was an observational study with prospective monitoring of all traumatic spinal cord injury patients in the Canary Islands, Spain (2.1 million inhabitants) between 2001 and 2015.ResultsOver the specified period of the study, 282 patients suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury. The crude incidence rate was 9.3 cases per million people/year. The patients’ mean age increased from 38 years (2001–2005) to 48 years (2011–2015) (p < 0.05). Overall, 80.1% of patients were males. The trauma mechanisms of spinal cord injury were falls in 44%, traffic accidents in 36.5%, diving accidents in 8.9% and others in 10.7%. While traffic accidents decreased, falls increased, particularly in the elderly (p < 0.05). The most frequently affected level was the cervical spine (50.9%), and incomplete tetraplegia was the most prevalent group (29.8%). A total of 76.6% of all patients suffered a vertebral fracture, and 91.6% of these required surgery. Among 282 patients, 12.5% were transferred to residences. The patients transferred increased from 8.5% in the first period to 20.0% (p < 0.05) in the last period. Such cases were related to age, cervical level injuries and injuries associated with poor functionality (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThe rise in the number of falls among the older population, as well as the reduction in traffic accidents, decreased the incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury in our environment. This change in the profile of new traumatic spinal cord injuries led us to reformulate the functional objectives planned for these patients upon admission to specialized units, to plan destination-upon-discharge in advance and to promote campaigns to prevent spinal cord injury in older adults.
Highlights
Traumatic spinal cord injury remains a serious public health and social problem
Changes in the profile of patients admitted to units specialized in the management of spinal cord injury are important because they affect the following: a) the functional objectives outlined upon admission since the functional recovery of neurological injury is different in younger patients compared with older subjects [3]; b) the destination upon discharge, given that there is an Bárbara-Bataller et al Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (2018) 26:27 increasing tendency to transfer patients to residences [4]; and c) the prevention strategy, which was, until recently, focused on traffic accidents [5]
Information source The authors collected the records with the International classification of diseases (ICD)-9 (International Classification of Diseases) codes 806 and 952 from the electronic hospital database
Summary
Traumatic spinal cord injury remains a serious public health and social problem. incidence rates are decreasing in our environment, it is a high cost condition that is associated with great disability. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological and demographic characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injury and to analyse its epidemiological changes. Spinal cord injury is considered to be the second most severe traumatic event after traumatic brain injury in terms of morbidity and disability [1]. This type of injury produces a number of physical, psychological, social and financial dysfunctions that affect the patients and their families. The authors consulted the database of the Regional Canary Health Service
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