Objective(s): Traumatic spinal injuries resulting from sports, violence, bullying, traffic accidents, falls, suicide, and other traumatic causes are preventable accidents. This study aimed to epidemiologically investigate traumatic spinal injury and its associated factors in patients admitted to Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, which is affiliated with the National Trauma Registry of Iran.
Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 440 spine injury patients of Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan from 2017 to 2022. Information including demographic characteristics, types of spinal injuries, injury mechanisms and their severity were extracted from Iran's national trauma registration system and utilizing SPSS version 18 for statistical analysis, various methods including descriptive and inferential statistics such as chi-square, paired t-test, Fishers exact test and independent t-test, and Pearson's correlation were employed, with a significance level set at p < 0.05.
Results: The average age of the patients, with a standard deviation, was 43.42 (19.28) years, and 74.5% were male. Among the 440 patients, injuries reported included spine injury in 40 (9.1%), spinal cord injury in 95 (21.6%), neck injury in 147 (33.4%), chest injury in 273 (62%), and back injury in 147 (33.4%). Men predominated in spine injuries, with the most common injuries being to the back (46.5%) and chest (25.9%). Additionally, 55.3% of the patients sustained minor to moderate injuries. The leading causes of injury were traffic accidents (58.6%) and falls (39.1%).
Conclusion: The findings highlight that injuries to the lumbar and thoracic spine regions were most prevalent, primarily resulting from traffic accidents and falls. This emphasizes the urgent need for targeted preventive and educational measures to enhance traffic safety and reduce falls, especially among high-risk groups.