Epidemiological features of traumatic spinal cord injury in Wuhan, China

Abstract STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective hospital-based study. OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiological features of traumatic spinal cord injury in Wuhan, China. SETTING: Rehabilitation department of Wuhan's Tongji Hospital. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 463 individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) admitted to Tongji Hospital from 2016 to 2021. Epidemiological features, such as sex, age, marital status, etiology, occupation, neurological level of injury, and the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale on admission, hospitalization, and concomitant injuries were collected. RESULTS: The mean age of patients with TSCI was 39.4 ± 14.1 years, and the male/female ratio was 3:1. The leading causes of TSCIs were traffic accidents (38.4%), followed by falls (low falls 19.2%, high falls 13.1%). The most common injury site was the cervical spinal cord, especially C4–C6, accounting for 41.3%. Of all patients, 463 patients (51.22%) had complications and other injuries. During the hospitalization period, a total of 217 patients experienced complications, with a percentage of 46.8%. urinary tract infection was the most common (15.6%), followed by Pulmonary infection (14.0%). CONCLUSION: The results found that the proportion of males was greater, and the first two main reasons were falls and traffic accidents. Farmers and workers are the occupations most vulnerable to SCI. We need to pay more attention to the elderly's risk of falling. These findings suggested that preventive strategies should be based on the features of different types of TSCI patients. Finally, the importance of SCI rehabilitation must be highlighted.