TRAUMATIC SPINAL-CORD INJURIES IN JORDAN - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY

To survey the situation of traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) in Jor dan and for a future nationwide epidemiological survey, a retrospectiv e study was conducted at the Royal Jordanian Rehabilitation Centre (RJ RC) King Hussein Medical Centre (KHMC) Amman-Jordan, where all traumat ic cases within this centre in addition to a few nontraumatic spinal i njury patients are referred to the spinal unit which has a capacity of 30 beds. 151 traumatic SCI patients who were admitted to the spinal u nit at RJRC during the period January 1988 to December 1993 were revie wed. The estimated annual incidence was 18 per million population. The majority were predominantly males (85.4%) the male/female ratio was 5 .8:1. The mean age at the time of injury was 33 being 30.9 years for m ales and 34.8 years for females. There were 68% (n=103) with paraplegi a and 32% (n=48) with tetraplegia (Frankel A-D). The commonest aetiolo gy was motor vehicle accidents (44.4% n=67), next came bullet injuries (25.8% n=39), followed by accidental falls (21.2% n=32). Other causes of SCI, and also the importance of preventive measures are discussed.