Epidemiology of the traumatic spinal cord injury at old age: The expertise of the clinical emergency hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni”

Abstract

Study Design. Retrospective analysis, focused on the epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord lesions (SCI) at old persons (over 65 years), admitted in the Rehabilitation Department, during a period extended upon 10 years (1995-2005), continuation of a previous study tradition. Methods. Data - collected and analyzed from441 medical files. Setting. Rehabilitation Clinic, Emergency Hospital “Bagdasar-Arseni” Bucharest. Results. 
Male's number (355) predominate over the female's (86) (r= 4.12). Most of the cases were from rural regions (74%). Tetraplegics (367 subjects, 83.2%) predominate over the subjects with paraplegia (74 cases, 16.8%). Falls from height dominated the etiology (74.3%), especially falls from the chariot and the trees (also house, ladder, hay). Traffic accidents were responsible as second cause of SCI at old age (19.5%) Associated degenerative pathology (single or multiple factors) favored the incidence of SCI: cardio-cerebral-vascular, chronic alcoholism, rheumatologic, metabolic diseases. Conclusions. Socio-economic problems and associated pathology were responsible for the incidence of SCI at this fragile category of population.