Publication:

Traumatic spinal fractures: presentation and prognosis

Background The bulk of spine injuries that result in permanent injury happen as a result of vehicle accidents. Objective of the study was to estimate the incidence, outcome, and causes of spinal fractures.

Methods From January 2018 to December 2019, data were obtained from the trauma register database of all traumatic spinal injuries admitted to the section of trauma surgery, department of Meenakshi medical college hospital and research institute, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Demographic information as well as injury severity Ratings were gathered. SPSS (trial version 24) was used for analysis.

Results A total of 513 (14%) of the 3665 patients referred to the trauma surgery section had spinal injuries, with an average age of 34.2 11 years. The leading causes of cervical injuries (p0.05) were motor car collisions (38.5%) and accidents from great heights (20.3%). The injury level scale ranged from 4 to 70. In 25% of cases, lumbar injury was linked with thoracic injury (p<0.001). A mixture of thoracic and Lumber injuries is associated to a cervical injury in 35% of cases (p<0.001). A total of 4.4 percent of injuries were linked to neurological deficits. Fifty-nine cases of spine fractures were surgically treated, with 12 of them having neurological deficits. The overall mortality rate was 3%.

Conclusions In these areas, spinal fractures are rare. The most common neurological deficits are caused by cervical and thoracic spine injuries. Young males are the most vulnerable group, and accident prevention services in the workplace and enforcement of traffic laws should be prioritized for them.