A profile of traumatic spinal cord injury and medical complications in Latvia

STUDY DESIGN: A single centre retrospective study. OBJECTIVES: To collect data and analyse the epidemiological profile of traumatic spinal cord injury and its medical complications during the subacute rehabilitation period. SETTING: Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Programme of the National Rehabilitation Centre, ‘Vaivari’, Jurmala, Latvia. METHODS: Information was collected in 2015 from the medical records of 134 patients with a traumatic spinal cord injury admitted for primary rehabilitation between January 2011 and December 2014. RESULTS: During this period, the median age of patients with a traumatic spinal cord injury was 39.5 years, and the male to female ratio was 5:1. The leading causes of traumatic spinal cord injuries were falls (37%), road traffic accidents (29%), sport and leisure activities (19%), other cause (8%), unidentified causes (5%), and assault (2%). The most common medical complications were pain (77%), spasticity (48%), urinary tract infections (45%), pressure ulcers (25%), and orthostatic hypotension (14%). CONCLUSIONS: Preventive measures in Latvia should be aimed primarily to address falls, road traffic accidents, and sport and leisure activities in the young male population. Medical complications are varied, and they are an important factor following traumatic spinal cord injury. The results obtained in this study comply with the data from studies in countries of the Baltic and North Sea regions of Europe.