Frequency and Causes of Traumatic and Non-traumatic Spinal Injury Reported at Two Major Tertiary Care Hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Introduction Spinal cord injury, due to traumatic or non-traumatic causes, is a medically challenging and life-disrupting condition. The injury disrupts neural signaling and is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment that can reduce long-term effects like paralysis or partial disability of the body. It has costly consequences both for individuals and families because it causes not only physical disability but dependency on others. The main objectives of the study were to determine the frequency of spinal injuries, their nature, and their causes. Materials and methods A descriptive exploratory study was conducted in the neurosurgery wards of two major hospitals of Peshawar, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex. Necessary permission was taken from the administration of both hospitals before starting data collection. The duration of the study was three months, from October to December 2014. A total of 768 patients were retrieved from the ward records for 2013, from which a 50% random sample was taken (384 patients) while incomplete patient records were excluded. The data were transferred and recorded on a pre-constructed proforma covering all the required variables of the study. Finally, the data were transferred to SPSS 15 (SPSS Inc., Chicago) for analysis of descriptive statistics. In addition, comparisons were done by gender, hospitals, types of injuries, and causes of injuries. The chi-square test was used to compare groups for significant differences in frequencies, keeping p ≤0.05 as significant. Results Major factors for spinal cord injury were traumatic and non-traumatic. This study revealed that out of the total patients, 35% faced trauma as a cause of spinal disorder out of which 42%, 29%, and 21% were sudden falls, road traffic accidents (RTAs), and weight lifting, respectively. While non-traumatic causes were 52% mostly due to congenital anomalies (24%), stenosis (23%), and tumor (12%). Levels most commonly involved were lumbar (42.3%) followed by patients involving multiple levels (32.52%), L5-S1 (20.87%), thoracic (2.42%), and cervical (1.92%). Conclusions The traumatic injury was the leading cause of spinal cord injury in the present study where RTAs and falls contributed the most. Congenital abnormalities and spinal cord stenosis were more frequent among non-traumatic spinal cord injuries. The surgical approach was the only way of management practiced for spinal cord injuries in both of the tertiary care hospitals.