The characteristics of traumatic spinal cord injuries at a referral hospital in Northern Tanzania.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in Northern Tanzania.

SETTING

Main referral hospital for Northern Tanzania.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 125 TSCI cases admitted to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) over a period of 5 years.

RESULTS

We included 125 patients in the sample size, with a male majority of 107 (85.6%), giving a male-to-female ratio of 5.9:1. The mean age at injury was 39.9 (±16.0) years. Overall, 66 (52.8%) were farmers and an overwhelming majority (109 (87.2%)) were referrals from peripheral medical centres. Fall injuries accounted for 65 (52.0%) of the admissions and 49 (39.2%) were injured due to a Road Traffic Accident (RTA). Severity of injury was classified according to the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) and 57 (45.6%) injuries were categorised as AIS A and 68 (54.4%) as AIS BCD. Cervical level injuries (59 (47.2%)) were the most frequent among the cohort. The in-hospital mortality rate was 24.1%.

CONCLUSION

The majority of patients affected by TSCIs were young males and the most common cause was fall injuries. Cervical level injuries were the most common and in-hospital mortality was high.