Spinal trauma and spinal cord injury

The majority of the spinal injuries (60 %) affect young healthy males between 15 and 35 years of age with cervical spine injuries to be most common. The main cause for spinal injuries is blunt trauma most commonly due to motor vehicle accidents (48 %), followed by falls (21 %), and sport injuries (14.6 %). Assault and penetrating trauma account for approximately 10-20 % of the cases. Injuries to the spinal column and the spinal cord are a major cause of disability, affecting predominately young healthy individuals with important socioeconomic consequences, and the costs of lifetime care and rehabilitation exceed one million US dollars per patient excluding financial losses related to wages and productivity. Over the past several decades, the mean age of the spinal cord-injured patient has increased which is attributed to a substantially greater proportion of injuries related to falls in the elderly.