TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2024//
TI  - Trend differences in cervical spinal cord injuries before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic
JO  - Spinal cord series and cases
A1  - Fukushima, Hirotaka
A1  - Ushiku, Chikara
A1  - Akiyama, Shoshi
A1  - Saito, Shinji
A1  - Wakiya, Hiroki
A1  - Okuno, Kenji
A1  - Saito, Mitsuru
SP  - e19
EP  - e19
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
N2  - STUDY DESIGN: Cross-Sectional Study. <br><br>OBJECTIVES: To investigate the changes in the characteristics of cervical spinal cord injuries (CSCI) before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among patients transported to our hospital in Japan.     SETTING: Hospital with an emergency center in Chiba, Japan. <br><br>METHODS: Patients eligible for the study were those transported within 24 h of injury and diagnosed with cervical spinal cord injury between January 2018 and December 2021 at our hospital. Medical records were retrospectively examined to investigate the number and characteristics of patients with CSCI. The clinical variables of patients with CSCI were compared according to the time of admission as related to the COVID-19 pandemic: 2018-19 (before) or 2020-21 (after). <br><br>RESULTS: The total number of patients with CSCI from 2018 to 2021 was 108, with 57 before the COVID-19 pandemic and 51 after the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of severe cases with an injury severity score (ISS) of >16 decreased after COVID-19 (p < 0.05). Falls on level surfaces were the most common cause of injury both before and after COVID-19. Although the ranking of traffic accidents decreased after COVID-19, among those, the number of bicycle injuries tended to increase. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The number of serious cases with an ISS > 16 decreased, presumably because of the decline in high-energy trauma due to the background decrease in the number of traffic accidents.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2058-6124
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41394-024-00633-6
ID  - ref1
ER  -