Determining the frequency of cervical vertebral fractures and cervical spinal cord injury based on the mechanism of injury in the last 5 years

Abstract

Vertebrae and cervical spinal cord are the most common place of injury in the spinal column due to little protection in the upper body and inherent flexibility and mobility. Gaining knowledge of different patterns and causes of traumatic injuries of cervical vertebrae and spinal cord in different regions is very effective in explaining prevention and treatment policies, such as general education of citizens and drivers, and defining safety standards, such as optimizing the transportation fleet. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of cervical vertebrae fractures and cervical spinal cord injury based on the mechanism leading to the injury in the last 5 years. Materials and Methods: Information on cervical vertebrae fracture and subsequent spinal cord injury in 211 patients with traumatic cervical spine injury in a period of 5 years from 2017 to 2022, from the Iran Spinal Trauma Patient Information Registration Center under the supervision of the Management Center and The prevention of traffic accident injuries, were extracted and analyzed. The parameters included the age of the patients, the gender of the patients, the type of cervical vertebra fracture, the presence or absence of spinal cord injury, and the mechanism of injury (car accident, fall, fight, sports, and others) were recorded. Results: The average age of the patients was 44.29 ± 18.23 years with a range of 7 to 92 years and the highest frequency was in the age group of 40-59 years (37.4%). In terms of gender distribution, males were dominant (73.9 percent). The most common mechanism of injury to the vertebra was related to traffic accidents (68.7%). 27.5% of the investigated patients suffered spinal cord injury and had abnormal neurological examination findings, of which 40 patients had quadriplegia, 13 had paraplegia, and 5 had hemiplegia. According to ASIA classification, 68.7% were class E. 310 cases of cervical vertebra fractures were recorded, of which the most common type of fracture was type C (47.7%). Cervical vertebrae C1-C2 were also fractured in 87 cases, of which 47% were fracture type A of AOSpine classification.