BACKGROUND This study was wanted to investigate the prevalence of concomitant injuries among hospitalized acute spinal trauma patients aged 20 and over and the effects of those injuries on medical utilization in Taiwan. METHODS Nationwide inpatient datasets of Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) database from between 2000 and 2003 were used. The major inclusion criteria used to select ca...

Wallerian degeneration is a fundamental process of axonal degeneration distal to the injury site. Although axonal degeneration itself is accomplished in a few days, the subsequent process of removing debris, including myelin debris, in the central nervous system takes more time. Since this debris is a potent inhibitor of axonal regeneration, the removal process is critical for functional recove...

The circumstances of the sudden death of a young healthy wrestler in the course of a wrestling match are described. The death occurred due to acute ischemia of the brainstem as a result of the acute interruption of blood flow to his vertebral-basal system, as a consequence of the injury or rupture of vertebral arteries, after injury of the neck. This interruption of the irrigation of the brains...

This study explores the inertial effects of the head and torso on cervical spine dynamics with the specific goal of determining whether the head mass can provide a constraining cervical spine end condition. The hypothesis was tested using a low friction impact surface and a pocketing foam impact surface. Impact orientation was also varied. Tests were conducted on whole unembalmed heads and cerv...

'Fine PR, Kuhlemeier KV, De Vivo MJ, Stover SL. Spinal cord injury: an epidemiological perspective. Paraplegia 1980 ;17 :237-50. 2 Castanier MM, Garard R, Berard E, Deider C, Bourret J. Epidemiology of spinal cord injury in Rhode-Alpes region, France 1970-75. Paraplegia 1979 ;16 :76-87. 3 Kurtzke JF. Epidemiology of spinal cord injury. Exp Neurol 1975;48: 163-236. 4 Krans JF, Franti CE, Riggins...

Spinal epidural abscesses (SEA) are considerably rare and tend to present over two five vertebral segments. Occasionally, there will be or more noncontiguous areas of pyogenic collections [1]. Minimal cases have been reported span the entire column; a meta-analysis estimates that 1% all SEA holospinal [2]. The triad presenting symptoms includes fever, back pain (often midline), neurologic defec...

Injury to the cervical cord is common but may be overlooked The first important requirement in managing any patient with an injury to the cervical spine is to make the diagnosis: failure to do this in a patient with traumatic spinal instability may lead to increased neurological deficit. In one large series of such injuries the diagnosis was missed in the accident and emergency department in on...

Head and neck trauma in pediatric population differs from adult cases due to the immature cranio-cervical stability resulting from the weak neck musculature and large head to neck proportion. These cases also have drawn attention due to concomitant severe damage to the regional vascular structures such as carotid artery [1,2]. In some cases, especially with skull base fractures and cervical ver...

OBJECTIVE To describe our experience in treating esophageal and pharyngeal perforation after anterior cervical spine surgery. METHODS Six patients with esophageal injury and one patient with pharyngeal injury after anterior cervical spinal surgery, managed at our department between 2000 and 2015, were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS During the study period, 7 patients (6 male and 1 female...