A Retrospective Review of Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries to Appropriately Forecast Future Service Requirements at a National Trauma Centre

Abstract

Aim
In recent decades, a concerning rise in spinal cord injuries (SCI) parallels increased trauma related admissions. Our aims were to review traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) admissions to a national tertiary centre and conduct analysis of costs for resource planning.

Methods
TSCI patients presenting to the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital between 2017 and 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographics, clinical characteristics, level of neurological deficit as per the 5-point American Spinal Injuries Association (ASIA) scoring system (with grade A representing the most severe and the grade D representing the least severe grade of deficit) and length of stay (LOS) were compared for annual years.

Results
Our cohort consisted of 148 patients (73% male). A yearly rise in the percentage of cases of ASIA grade A was noticed in conjunction with a decrease in mean age and increase in mean LOS. A similar increase was also noted in ASIA Grade D patients, along with an increase in mean age and mean LOS.

Discussion
ASIA Grade A and D patients may be constituting a greater percentage of all cases in our institution, with the most severe form of TSCI increasingly occurring in younger demographics, implying that greater resource planning will be required to accommodate these patients.