Epidemiology of Spine Trauma and Spinal Cord Injuries in the North of ‎Iran

Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most traumatic events threatening patients’ well-being and places a financial burden on health care system. The first step in determination of the exact impact of SCI is to estimate the pattern of traumatic injuries in a population and also the type of frequently occurred co-injuries. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the frequency of anatomy, type of spine injuries, and associated co-injuries in patients with trauma in Poursina Hospital of Guilan province in Iran.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on traumatic spine patients admitted to the Poursina hospital of Rasht, a referral therapeutic center for trauma in north of Iran, in Rasht during 2015 to 2019. Data were extracted from the SCI registry of Poursina Hospital, Rasht, Guilan, Iran.

A total of 274 records were reviewed. Seventy-six patients were females and 198 patients were males. Mean±SD of age of the patients was 42.27±16.83 years. Based on this survey, most of the patients (43.8%) had SCI in lumbar region. Locked facet was seen in 12 patients. Fifty-seven patients (20.8%) complained about having pain. The median of VAS score was 6 (range=6). Co-existence of associated injuries (e.g. limb fractures, TBI, Internal bleeding, etc.) was found in 27.4% of the patients. According to ASIA (The American Spinal Injury Association) impairment scale, three patients (2.9%) had score A, and 100 patients (97.1%) had score E neurological defects.

The most telling reiteration to be drawn is that men mostly suffered from spine trauma. Lumbar region was the most susceptible location of SCI. Moreover, most of the patients experienced score E (normal neurological charcteristics) according to ASIA.