[Analysis of spinal injuries in Wenchuan earthquake]

To analyze the spinal injury in Wenchuan earthquake and to investigate its clinical features.

Data of 146 patients in Wenchuan earthquake with spinal injuries (79 males, 67 females; aged 11-88 years old, average 51 years old) were collected and analyzed epidemiologically. Two patients under 16 years of age, 15 patients with the fractures of spinous process, transverse process or vertebra lamina, 1 patient with spinal fractures of type A2 according to AO classification but no corresponding type in Denis classification, and 9 patients with upper cervical injuries were excluded. The remaining 119 patients were divided into two groups according to their age: group A in which 78 patients were under 60 years of age, including 40 males and 38 females aged 18-58 years old (average 41 years old), and group B in which 41 patients were 60 years of age or above, including 24 males and 17 females aged 60-88 years old (average 71 years old). Analyses for the two groups were compared.

The leading causes of spinal injuries were fall from high places (27.40%) and crush by heavy objects (67.81%). According to Denis classification, the major types of spinal injuries were burst fracture (54.62%) and compression fracture (33.61%). Serious nerve injury, defined as grade A, B and C in ASIA neurological function assessment, occurred in 31.51% of patients. The most common injured site was in thoracic or lumbar vertebrae (78.77%), and 52.74% of patients had combined injuries, among which the fractures of limb (30.14%) and rib (19.86%) were the most common. Multi-level spinal fractures happened to 22.60% of patients. Comparative analysis revealed the rate of injury caused by fall from high places in group A (34.62%) was much higher than that in group B (12.20%). The commonest type of fracture in group A was burst fracture (58.97%), and it was compression fracture in group B (48.78%). The rate of serious nerve injury in group B (24.39%) was much lower than that in group A (44.87%). The rate of combined injury and multilevel vertebral body injury in group B was 70.73% and 39.02%, respectively, which was much higher than that in group A (combined injury 43.59%; multilevel vertebral body injury 21.79%). There were significant differences between two groups in all the indicators derived from clinical data (P < 0.05).

In Wenchuan earthquake, the leading causes of spinal injuries are fall from high places and crush by heavy objects, the major types of fracture are compression fracture and burst fracture, and the occurrence rates of spinal injury, combined injury and multilevel vertebral body injury are high.