Citation

Eaton J, Mukuzunga C, Grudziak J, Charles A. Trop. Doct. 2019; 49(1): 62-64.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0049475518808969

PMID

30451091

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is relatively rare and affects an estimated 15-40 per 1 million people globally. All patients admitted from October 2016 to June 2017 at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Malawi with a spinal column injury were retrospectively studied. Out of 1442 patients, 46 had vertebral column injury, and half of these had neurological deficit. The most common mechanism of injury was road traffic crash (45.7%), and cervical SCIs were the most common (41.3%). The overall mortality was 15.2%, thus demonstrating devastating morbidity and mortality. Owing to the latter, and the relative lack of operative facilities, primary prevention remains the most effective way to attenuate the tragedy of SCIs.

Language: en

Keywords

Trauma; low-resource setting; spinal cord injury