Incidence of spinal and spinal cord injuries and their surgical treatment in children and adolescents: a population-based study.
METHODS
A population based, epidemiological study.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate incidence of spinal and spinal cord injuries and their surgical treatment in children and adolescents in Finland.


BACKGROUND
Epidemiological data on spinal injuries and their treatment in children is sparse.


METHODS
All spinal and spinal cord injuries in children under 18 years of age treated in hospital between 1997 and 2006 in Finland were included. The data on injuries, hospitalizations, and surgical treatment were collected from the National Hospital Discharge Register which includes all in-patient treatment episodes. Fatal spinal injuries were derived from the Official Cause-of-Death Statistics of Finland.


RESULTS
The overall incidence of spinal injuries remained stable during the follow-up period, averaging 66 per 10 of the reference population aged below 18 years. The proportions of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine injuries altered with age: 64% of spinal injuries in children below 8 years of age were cervical, while in the older children lumbar (42%) and thoracic spine injuries (33%) were more common than cervical. The incidence of spinal cord injuries averaged 1.9 per 10 children. Thirty percent of the children with spinal injury underwent surgery. The annual incidence of fatal spinal injury averaged 2.4 per 10 children.


CONCLUSIONS
Pediatric spinal and spinal cord injuries are rare. In contrast to previous literature, the most commonly affected area is lumbar spine. One-third of the children with spinal injury underwent surgery.
Puisto
Ville
V
Section of Pediatric Surgery, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. ville.puisto@helsinki.fi
Kääriäinen
Sakari
S
Impinen
Antti
A
Parkkila
Timo
T
Vartiainen
Erkki
E
Jalanko
Tuomas
T
Pakarinen
Mikko P
MP
Helenius
Ilkka
I
D000058:Accidental Falls; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D012042:Registries; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*