An analysis of changing patterns in traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries in a tertiary referral centre in Southern India

Dr Nalli R Gopinath; Prof Nalli R Uvaraj; Dr Dhanagopal M

Volume : VI, Issue : X, October - 2017

An analysis of changing patterns in traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries in a tertiary referral centre in Southern India

Dr Nalli R Gopinath, Prof Nalli R Uvaraj, Dr Dhanagopal M

Abstract :

Study Design and Objective : A prospective study to analyze the changes in etiology, transfer patterns, time delay in transfers, levels of injury and type of traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) was designed and comparative analysis with previous studies from the same tertiary centre was done.

Methods : This prospective study was done involving 313 patients at our institute . Personal information of patients and data were obtained from admission registers (records data) and patient proforma and analyzed and compared with the Paraplegia Analysis Report¹¹ of period 1987–98 and Paraplegia project,Madras¹⁰ available in the institute.

Results : High falls (fall from height ) remain the leading cause of SCI while an increase in SCI due to road traffic accidents is noted along with decreased time interval in inter facility transfers of patients.