Epidemiology of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury in Tianjin, China

Abstract

Study design: A retrospective epidemiological study. Objective: To describe the recent epidemiological characteristics of traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (TCSCI) in adults in Tianjin. Setting: Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. Methods: This study included all TCSCI patients aged X15 years who were admitted to a general hospital from December 2008 to November 2011. Epidemiological characteristics including gender, age, marital status, occupation, etiology, level of injury, severity and America Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale were recorded. Results: A total of 143 patients with TCSCI were included in the study. Mean age was 54.6±14.6 years (men 53.5±14.9 years, women 54.2 ± 12.1 years), with a range of 18-87 years, and the male/female ratio was 5:1. The leading cause was falls (49.7%), followed by motor vehicle accidents (36.4%). The most common injury site was C5, accounting for 42%. In all, 74 (51.7%) patients had complications; the most common complication was hyponatremia (30.1%), followed by urinary infection (23.1%), respiratory infection (18.2%), bedsore (9.8%) and deep venous thrombosis (4.9%). As for the severity, ASIA grade D was encountered most frequently. Six patients died, five of whom died from respiratory failure. Conclusion: The epidemiology of TCSCI has its own characteristics. Falls were the leading causes, and TCSCI occurred most frequently in the middle-aged and elders. Therefore, establishing public policies aimed at preventing injuries should focus on falls and more attention should be paid to the aged regarding their vulnerability to low fall. Additionally, complications should be prevented in TCSCI patients. INTRODUCTIONTraumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is a life-threatening condition that not only leads to loss of motor and sensory below the level of injury but also results in many dysfunctions of many organs, including the respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary and autonomic nervous system. It is a substantial burden to the affected individuals, their families and society, because of expenses towards health-care treatments, rehabilitation and lost productivity. 1,2 Of the TSCIs, traumatic cervical spinal cord injury (TCSCI) is one of the most severe and disabling traumatic conditions. Worldwide, the global estimate of TSCI incidence lies between 10.4 and 83 per million per year; 3 however, TCSCI is the most common injury (accounting for 450%). 4,5 Every year, 11 000 cervical spinal cord injury patients require hospitalization. 6 The mean length of stay of patients with TCSCI (161 days for Frankel grade A, B or C and 102 days for grade D) is longer than that for thoracic (161 days for Frankel grade A, B or C and 64 days for grade D) and lumbar (138 days for Frankel grade A, B or C and 70 days for grade D) TSCI. 7 The TCSCI patients have the highest costs, and the complications are significantly of longer duration. 8,9 Approximately 20.6% of the TCSCI cases require tracheostomy because of compromised respiratory function. 10 Additionally, TCSCI mortali...

Mortality and Longevity after a Spinal Cord Injury: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…table). Among studies with a cervical TSCI-only population in-hospital mortality varied between 4.2 and 26.2% [49,56,66,94,105]. Study estimates for one geriatric population was 23.1% (online suppl.…”

“…table; for all online suppl. material, see www.karger.com/doi/10.1159/000382079) [7,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107]. The study duration ranged from less than one year to more than 50 years, and included data beginning in 1935 until 2009.…”

Epidemiology of sport-related spinal cord injuries: A systematic review

“…The six countries with the highest proportion of SCI caused by sports were Russia (32.9% of all TSCIs were caused by sports), 9 Fiji (32.0%), 10 New Zealand (20.0%), 11 Iceland (18.8%), 12 France (15.8%), 13 and Canada (13.1%). [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The six countries with the lowest proportion of SCIs caused by sports were Turkey (3.0% of all TSCIs were caused by sports), 21 Jordan (2.6%), 22 Nepal (2.0%), 23 Malaysia (2.0%), 24 China (1.8%), [25][26][27] and Nigeria (1.7%). …”

Rachimedural Trauma: Epidemiology And Complications

“…In this study, the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents resembles the scenario described by other researchers, mainly males and individuals in the economically active age group [2,4,[15][16][17][18][19].…”