International Journal of Clinical Science and Medical Research

Background: Spinal cord injury remains a global neurosurgical burden affecting young active members of the society. This study was designed to describe the clinical pattern of spinal cord injury in our centre.

Methodology: This was a retrospective study conducted at the Regional Neurosurgical Centre of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria over 12 months period (January to December, 2024). Information such as bio demographics, causes, type and clinical presentation and ASIA grade was extracted from patient's case folders and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0.

Results: Over the study period, 41 patients with spinal cord injury were managed at our center. The age distribution showed a mean age of 34.2 years (±14 standard deviation), a median of 30.5 years, and a mode of 30 years. The gender distribution was markedly skewed toward males, with 34 male patients (82.9%) compared to only 7 female patients (17.1%), giving a male-to-female ratio of 3.9:1. Road traffic accidents dominated as the leading cause of spinal cord injury, responsible for 27 cases (65.9%). The anatomical distribution showed a clear predilection for the cervical spine, which was affected in 29 patients (70.7%). Incomplete spinal cord injuries were substantially more common, with 31 patients (75.6%) presenting with incomplete lesions.

Conclusion: Spinal cord injury in Northwest Nigeria predominantly affects young adult males, with road traffic accidents responsible for two-thirds of cases.

Spinal cord injury, road traffic accidents, North-west Nigeria, neurotrauma, neurosurgical, bio demographics

REFERENCES

1. Kumar, J. I., Yanamadala, V., & Shin, J. H. (2015a). Operative Management of Spinal Injuries. In Current Trauma Reports (Vol. 1, Issue 3, pp. 193–202). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40719-015-0024-9
2. Obalum, D. C., Giwa, S. O., Adekoya-Cole, T. O., & Enweluzo, G. O. (2009). Profile of spinal injuries in Lagos, Nigeria. Spinal Cord, 47(2), 134–137. https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2008.93
3. Müller-Jensen, L., Ploner, C. J., Kroneberg, D., & Schmidt, W. U. (2021). Clinical Presentation and Causes of Non-traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: An Observational Study in Emergency Patients. Frontiers in Neurology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.701927
4. ZHANG, Y., MAMUN, A. AL, YUAN, Y., LU, Q., XIONG, J., YANG, S., WU, C., WU, Y., & WANG, J. (2021). Acute spinal cord injury: Pathophysiology and pharmacological intervention (Review). In Molecular Medicine Reports (Vol. 23, Issue 6). Spandidos Publications. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2021.12056
5. Mohamad, N. H., Salim, A. A., Yusof, M. I., Khoh, P. S., Lim, H. S., Bahrin, Z., & Sadagatullah, A. N. (2024). Prevalence, Implications, and Risk Factors of Traumatic Dural Tears in Thoracic and Lumbar Fractures: A Retrospective Study. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.64351
6. Chabros, J., Kayhanian, S., Timofeev, I., Kolias, A., Helmy, A. E., Anwar, F., & Hutchinson, P. J. (2025). Cycling-related cranio-spinal injuries admitted to a Major Trauma Centre in the cycling capital of the UK. British Journal of Neurosurgery, 39(4), 420–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/02688697.2023.2255280
7. Wang, J. Z., Yang, M., Meng, M., & Li, Z. H. (2023). Clinical characteristics and treatment of spinal cord injury in children and adolescents. Chinese Journal of Traumatology - English Edition, 26(1), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjtee.2022.04.007
8. Dickson, R. A. (1992). Spinal injuries: Early surgical treatment. Paraplegia, 30(1), 43–45. https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1992.18
9. Loughenbury, P. R. (n.d.). Indications and principles of surgical treatment in injuries affecting the thoracolumbar spine.
10. Sunder, A., Chhabra, H. S., & Aryal, A. (2023). Geriatric spine fractures – Demography, changing trends, challenges and special considerations: A narrative review. Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma, 43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcot.2023.102190
11. Draulans, N., Kiekens, C., Roels, E., & Peers, K. (2011). Etiology of spinal cord injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Spinal Cord (Vol. 49, Issue 12, pp. 1148–1154). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2011.93
12. Lenehan, B., Boran, S., Street, J., Higgins, T., McCormack, D., & Poynton, A. R. (2009). Demographics of acute admissions to a National Spinal Injuries Unit. European Spine Journal, 18(7), 938–942. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-009-0923-y
13. Ikwuegbuenyi, C. A., Waterkeyn, F., Okembo, ; Arthur, Costansia Bureta, ;, Kassim, K. O., Hamisi, ;, Shabani, K., Scott Zuckerman, ;, And, ;, & Härtl, R. (2024). Presentation, Management, and Outcomes of Thoracic, Thoracolumbar, and Lumbar Spine Trauma in East Africa: A Cohort Study. In International Journal of Spine Surgery (Vol. 18, Issue 2).
14. Nwankwo, O. E., & Uche, E. O. (2013). Epidemiological and treatment profiles of spinal cord injury in southeast Nigeria. Spinal Cord, 51(6), 448–452. https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.2013.10
15. van Dinter, R., Reneman, M. F., & Post, M. W. M. (2025). Relation between work hours, work control, work stress, and quality of life in persons with spinal cord injury. Disability and Health Journal, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101682
16. Kang, Y., Ding, H., Zhou, H., Wei, Z., Liu, L., Pan, D., & Feng, S. (2017). Epidemiology of worldwide spinal cord injury: a literature review. Journal of Neurorestoratology, Volume 6, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.2147/jn.s143236
17. Wyndaele, M., & Wyndaele, J. J. (2006). Incidence, prevalence and epidemiology of spinal cord injury: What learns a worldwide literature survey? In Spinal Cord (Vol. 44, Issue 9, pp. 523–529). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101893
18. Quadri, S. A., Farooqui, M., Ikram, A., Zafar, A., Khan, M. A., Suriya, S. S., Claus, C. F., Fiani, B., Rahman, M., Ramachandran, A., Armstrong, I. I. T., Taqi, M. A., & Mortazavi, M. M. (2020). Recent update on basic mechanisms of spinal cord injury. In Neurosurgical Review (Vol. 43, Issue 2, pp. 425–441). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-018-1008-3
19. Han, C. S., Hancock, M. J., Downie, A., Jarvik, J. G., Koes, B. W., Machado, G. C., Verhagen, A. P., Williams, C. M., Chen, Q., & Maher, C. G. (2023). Red flags to screen for vertebral fracture in people presenting with low back pain. In Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Vol. 2023, Issue 8). John Wiley and Sons Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD014461.pub2
20. Lowery, A., Patel, A., Ames, R., Ramsey, F., Slattery, B., & Pazionis, T. (2021). Prevalence of venous thromboembolism following acute spinal cord injury in an Urban Inner City hospital. International Journal of Spine Surgery, 15(3), 562–569. https://doi.org/10.14444/8076
21. Liu, J., Liu, H. W., Gao, F., Li, J., & Li, J. J. (2022). Epidemiological features of traumatic spinal cord injury in Beijing, China. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 45(2), 214–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790268.2020.1793505
22. Crispo, J. A. G., Liu, L. J. W., Noonan, V. K., Thorogood, N. P., Kwon, B. K., Dvorak, M. F., Thibault, D., Willis, A., & Cragg, J. J. (2022). Pediatric Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in the United States: A National Inpatient Analysis. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation, 28(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.46292/sci21-00047
23. Hiramatsu, M., Ishibashi, R., Suzuki, E., Miyazaki, Y., Murai, S., Takai, H., Takasugi, Y., Yamaoka, Y., Nishi, K., Takahashi, Y., Haruma, J., Hishikawa, T., Yasuhara, T., Chin, M., Matsubara, S., Uno, M., Tokunaga, K., Sugiu, K., & Date, I. (2022). Incidence and clinical characteristics of spinal arteriovenous shunts: hospital-based surveillance in Okayama, Japan. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 36(4), 670–677. https://doi.org/10.3171/2021.7.SPINE21233
24. Josefson, C., Rekand, T., Lundgren-Nilsson, Å., & Sunnerhagen, K. S. (2025). Epidemiology of Spinal Cord Injury in Adults in Sweden, 2016–2020: A Retrospective Registry-Based Study. Neuroepidemiology, 59(4), 334–342. https://doi.org/10.1159/000540818
25. Lee, S. W., Werner, B., Park, H., DeAndrea, J., Ayutyanont, N., & York, H. (2024). Epidemiology of demographic, clinical characteristics and hospital course of patients with spinal cord injury associated with vertebral fracture in a large private health care system in the United States. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 47(6), 933–943. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790268.2023.2228582
26. Khadour, F. A., Khadour, Y. A., Meng, L., Lixin, C., & Xu, T. (2023). Epidemiological features of traumatic spinal cord injury in Wuhan, China. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13018-023-03554-6
27. Aarabi, B., Albrecht, J. S., Simard, J. M., Chryssikos, T., Schwartzbauer, G., Sansur, C. A., Crandall, K., Gertner, M., Howie, B., Wessell, A., Cannarsa, G., Caffes, N., Oliver, J., Shanmuganathan, K., Olexa, J., Lomangino, C. D., & Scarboro, M. (2021). Trends in Demographics and Markers of Injury Severity in Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 38(6), 756–764. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2020.7415
28. Boudabbous, S., Versaci, M., Leung, M. F., Kim, J., Singh, S., Chola, C., Nyange, R., Kannan, H., & Pise, A. A. (n.d.) (2025). OPEN ACCESS EDITED BYin † PRESENT ADDRESS Analytical computation for segmentation and classification of lumbar vertebral fractures.