Blunt Traumatic Cervical Spine Fractures in Iran

Background: Blunt traumatic cervical spine fractures (TCSF) are serious injuries which may be associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. We describe the epidemiology of blunt traumatic cervical spine fracture in Iran over a definable time period. Methods: in a cross-sectional study, the data including the distribution of TCSF, demographics, mechanisms, abbreviated injury scale (AIS), spinal cord associated injuries and final outcome of patients, was extracted from the Iranian national trauma registry database in target hospitals in eight major cities of Iran from 1999 to 2004. The Chi square test was used to compare mortality and one-way ANOVA was used to compare ISS amongst the categories of TCSF. Results: TCSF was identified in 120 cases, of these 70.8% were male. Their mean age was 36.6 ± 17.2 years. The overall incidence of TCSF among all trauma patients was 0.7% (95%CI: 0.61% 0.88%). The TCSF incidence among all spine fractured patients was 19.38% (95%CI: 16.34% 22.72%). The most common mechanism of TCSF was a motor vehicle collision (66.7%). The overall percentage of in-hospital death for TCSF was 12.6%. There were no statistically significant difference in death and injury severity scores (ISS) among TCSF categories (p > 0.05). Spinal cord and root injuries occurred in 34.9% and 2.4% of TCSF, respectively. Conclusions: preventive strategies need to be developed in order to reduce the number and severity of TCSF in the general Iranian population.