Computed Tomography patterns of traumatic spine injury and their association with neurologic deficit at Addis Ababa burn emergency and trauma hospital

Abstract

Background: The annual incidence of traumatic spine injury (TSI) is 10.5 cases per 100,000
persons, primarily caused by road traffic accidents (RTA) and falls. TSI can lead to lifelong
paralysis, making early diagnosis with CT scans crucial. This study assesses CT scan
patterns of TSI and their association with neurologic deficits from May 1, 2020, to June 1,
2021, at Addis Ababa Burn Emergency and Trauma (AaBET) hospital, Ethiopia.
Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on all identified cases
at AaBET hospital. Data were collected by trained general practitioners and senior radiology
residents and analyzed using SPSS version 26. The Chi-square test was used to determine
associations, with a p-value of <0.05 considered significant.
Results: Among 167 patients (82.6% male, mean age 31.8 ± 10.4 years), the most common
causes of TSI were RTA (52.8%) and falls (28.1%). The thoracolumbar spine (T10-L2) was
the most affected area (35.3%). Most patients (67.1%) had compression (type A) injuries,
followed by rotational (type C) injuries (21%) and distraction (type B) injuries (12%).
Neurologic deficits were present in 44.9% of patients, with incomplete deficits in 27.5% and
complete deficits in 17.4%. Type C injuries had the highest likelihood of neurologic deficits
(82.86%) compared to type A (28.57%) and type B (70%) injuries, with a statistically
significant association (P = 0.001, Chi2 = 38.03).
Conclusion: Young men were the most common victims of spine injury, primarily due to
RTA. The thoracolumbar spine was the most frequently injured level. Compression (type A)
injuries were the most common, and the type of fracture according to AO classification
predicted the likelihood of neurologic deficits.