Background: Traumatic spinal injury with or without spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition that affects the quality and expectancy of life, and that places an economic burden on patients and their family members. Both conditions are associated with greatly reduced independence, and greatly increased disability, morbidity, and mortality. Epidemiological studies in these injuries may facilitate improved preventive measures.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the demographic and clinical profiles of traumatic spinal injury patients with or without SCI at the Siriraj Spinal Unit – Southeast Asia’s first dedicated spinal injury center.

Materials and methods: This retrospective descriptive analysis includedpatients who were treated at the Siriraj Spinal Unit of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand during the 2008-2017 study period. The following data were collected and analyzed: age, gender, cause of injury, level and extent of injury, treatment and outcome, length of hospital stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality.

Results: Six hundred and seventy-one patients were included. The mean age was 45.1years, and 67.5% were male. Spine injuries were caused by motor vehicle accidents (57.0%), fall from height (31.4%), violent injury (4.6%), and other causes (7%). The cervical spine was the most common site of injury (54.2%). Fifty-one percent of patients had abnormal findings on neurological examination (complete SCI 21.8%, incomplete SCI 25.0%, and nerve root injury 4.2%). Complete SCI was most often observed at the thoracic spine level (61.5%), and the average LOS was longest (96.2 days) in patients with cervical complete SCI. The rate of in-hospital mortality was 0.4% (3/671).

Conclusion: The most common patient profile observed in this study was middle-aged male,with motor vehicle accident, cervical spine injury, and abnormal neurological exam due to partial SCI. The mortality rate was a very low 0.4%.

Keywords: Epidemiological studies, Trauma, Spinal injuries, Spinal fracture