AUTHOR=Wang Xiaohui , Du Jinpeng , Jiang Chao , Zhang Yong-yuan , Tian Fang , Chen Zhe , Zhang Yuyang , Zhang Ying , Yan Liang , Hao Dingjun 

TITLE=Epidemiological characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injuries in a multicenter retrospective study in northwest China, 2017–2020

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.994536

DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2022.994536

ISSN=2296-875X

ABSTRACT=Background: Traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCI) are worldwide public health problems that are difficult to cure and impose a substantial economic burden on society. There has been a lack of extensive multi-center review of TSCI epidemiology in Northwest China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Method: A multi-center retrospective study of 14 selected hospitals in 2 provinces in Northwest China was conducted on patients admitted for TSCI between 2017 and 2020. Variables assessed included patient demographics, etiology, segmental distribution, treatment, waiting time for treatment and outcomes.
Results: The number of patients with TSCI showed an increasing trend from 2017 to 2019, while there were 12.8% fewer patients in 2020 than in 2019. The male-to-female ratio was 3.67:1, and the mean age was 48±14.9. The primary cause of TSCI was high fall (38.8%), slip fall/low fall (27.7%), traffic accidents (23.9%), sports (2.6%) and other violence (7.0%). The segmental distribution showed a bimodal pattern, peak segments were C6 and L1, L1(14.7%), T12 (8.2%) and C6 (8.2%) were the most frequently injured segments. In terms of severity, incomplete injury (72.8%) occurred more often than complete injury (27.2%). The ASIA scale of most patients did not convert before and after treatment in the operational group (71.6%) or the conservative group (80.6%). 975 patients (37.2%) from urban and 1646 patients (62.8%) from rural areas were conducted; almost all urban residents could rush to get treatment after being injured immediately (<1 h), whereas most rural patients get the treatment needed 4-7 h since injured. The rough annual incidence from 2017-2020 is 112.4, 143.4,152.2 and 132.6 per million people, calculated by the coverage rate of the population of the sampling hospital.
Conclusion: The incidence of TSCI in Northwest China is high and on the rise. However, due to pandemic policy reasons, the incidence of urban residents has decreased in 2020. The promotion of online work may be an effective primary prevention measure for traumatic diseases. Also, because of the further distance from the good conditional hospital, rural patients need to spend more time there, and the timely treatment of patients from remote areas should be paid attention.