Iatrogenic spinal cord injury: an observational study

Retrospective descriptive observational study.

The primary objective of this study was to quantify the incidence of iatrogenic spinal cord injury (SCI) at our SCI unit (SCIU). The secondary objective was to discover the surgical and medical procedures that cause iatrogenic SCI and to estimate the incidence with each procedure.

Patients admitted to or seen at outpatient services of the SCIU at a university hospital.

Histories were compiled from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2009. We included patients with SCI caused by any medical or surgical procedure. We collected age, sex, diagnosis leading to medical intervention, predominant clinical manifestations, medical-surgical procedure and level and grade of injury upon admission and discharge.

Out of 250 patients admitted to the SCIU, 32 (14.7%) patients presented iatrogenic SCI. Average age was 56.2 (s.d. 17.3), ranging from 0 to 82 years old. The most frequent clinical manifestation was pain. The most common diagnosis was channel stenosis. Lumbar level grade C of American Spine Injury Association (ASIA) was the most frequently observed.

The rise in the population's life expectancy entails an increase in elderly patients with vascular risk factors, who underwent invasive interventions leading to spinal cord iatrogenia.