Epidemiological analysis of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury / 中华急诊医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To describe the epidemiological characteristics of cervical spine fracture combined with trauma cervical spinal cord injury (TCSCI) in Guangxi province. Methods A total of 385 patients met the inclusion criteria were enrolled for retrospective investigation. Detailed information included age, sex, marital status, occupation, date of admission, mechanisms of trauma, level of injury, ASIA grade, concomitant injuries, length of hospital stay, complications, and mortality. Results The ratio of Male/Female was 4.41. The average age of the patients was 47.9 years, and 88.8％ of the patients were married. 72.9％ of TCSCI occurred between the age of 35-64 years. Farmers accounted for the largest number of patients with TCSCIs, and 63％ of patients with TCSCI were caused by falling. The damage was located at the C3-C5 level, accounting for 63.8％. More than half of the patients with CSCI had brain injury. The most common complication was respiratory infection (54.5％). Among the injury levels, the proportions of ASIA grade A, B, C, and D were 34.8％, 8.5％, 35.5％, and 21％, respectively. During the treatment, 58 patients required cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and 36 patients required mechanical ventilation. The average length of hospital stay was (26.5±21.6) d. Of the 375 patients discharged from the hospital, 51.2％ patients had no improvement in the muscle strength. Conclusions Falling is the main cause of CSCI and men are more likely to be exposed to the injury. Patients with TCSCI have long treatment time and poor treatment results. Additionally, complications during the treatment should not be ignored.