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Traffic Crashes Can Be Hazardous to the Spine

Car and motorcycle accidents cause all sorts of serious injuries. These authors studied how traffic accidents injure the spine. They looked at the medical records of almost 4,000 patients in England who were seriously injured in car and motorcycle crashes. Of that total, 126 people on motorcycles (11.2 percent) and 383 people in cars (14.1 percent) had spine injuries. The authors found a number of interesting facts about car and motorcycle crashes and their effects on the spine.

In motorcycle crashes:

  • The group with spine injuries from motorcycle crashes was 89 percent male, with an average age of 30; 72 percent of them were wearing helmets.
  • The accidents mainly occurred between spring and fall.
  • Just over half of the spine injuries in the motorcycle group were in the thoracic area (the middle of the back).
  • Eleven motorcycle patients needed spine surgery.
  • The motorcycle group had more injuries to the pelvis.
  • Thirteen people in the motorcycle group died from their injuries.

    In car crashes:

  • The group with spine injuries form car crashes was 61 percent male, with an average age of 39.
  • The car crashes were spread out over the whole year, but there were more crashes in the winter.
  • Just about half of the spine injuries in the car group were in the cervical spine (the neck).
  • Spine surgery was needed by 44 people in the car group. The authors think this group needed more surgery because the cervical spine is less stable than the thoracic spine.
  • In the car group, 26 people died from their injuries.

    In both groups, many people had injuries at more than one place in the spine. The authors suggest that doctors be alert for injuries at multiple levels of the spine. They also suggest that emergency response teams take extra care with the neck in people in car crashes and the middle back in people in motorcycle crashes.

    • Reference: 

    Angus Robertson, BSc, MRCS (Ed), et al. Spinal Injury Patterns Resulting from Car and Motorcycle Accidents. In Spine. December 15, 2002. Vol. 27. No. 24. Pp. 2825-2830.

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