A Retrospective Study on the Association between Cervical Spine Fractures, Falls, and the Elderly

Aims: Falls in the elderly are a well-documented reason for admission to hospital. Based on observational findings from our clinical work, we speculated that there was an association between cervical spine factures, mechanism of injury, and age of the patient. We set out to examine this formally by quantifying such an association.

Methods: We searched through an electronic database of admissions data for the emergency department of a University Hospital in Scotland. Admissions data from the past 2 years (March 2010 to March 2012) were studied. All traumatic injuries to the vertebra were initially included, and only patients with definite radiological evidence of a cervical spine fracture were selected for the study. We then compared the age of patients who presented with a fall to those that presented as other traumatic causes.

Results: The principal mechanisms of injury in the selected patients were road traffic accidents and falls. We found a significant difference between ages of the patients in relation to the mechanism of injury, with more elderly patients presenting as falls.

Conclusions: Cervical spine fractures are often a reason for seeking neurosurgical opinion. Some of this workload results from trauma in younger patients. However, with the aging population in the West, we expect an ever-increasing burden of cervical spine fractures in elderly patients with falls.

Acknowledgment

NHS Grampian