Clinical and radiological differences in patients following traumatic sci at different ages

Background. Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) can cause functional changes in patients of different ages. Material and methods. The study aims to determine whether there are social, clinical, and radiological dif ferences between young, middle-aged, and elderly adults with SCI caused by a ground-level fall. This retro spective study analyzed the records of patients with a clinical diagnosis of SCI. It enrolled patients with trau matic spinal cord injury after a ground-level fall divided as follows: young aged adults 18–35 years of age (G1); middle-aged adults aged 36–60 years (G2); and elderly adults aged over 60 years (G3). Their clinical, social, and radiological variables were analyzed. Results. It is observed that low schooling level, being widowed, and being a homemaker were more fre quently encountered among elderly adults, whereas being single was more common in middle-aged adults. The morphologic diagnosis of compression fracture and the associated injury of facial trauma occurred more fre quently in elderly adults, with an increasing tendency with age. Conservative therapeutic management was most commonly encountered in elderly adults, compared to surgery from a posterior approach in middle-aged adults. Listhesis was better identified in middle-aged adults by computed tomography (CT). Spinal cord contusion and injury to the C1 vertebra were demonstrated in young adults by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Conclusions. SCI patients differ with regard to certain aspects at different ages. Level of evidence: II. Retrospective study.