Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in the United States, 1993-2012

Acute traumatic spinal cord injury results in disability and use of health care resources, yet data on contemporary national trends of traumatic spinal cord injury incidence and etiology are limited.

To assess trends in acute traumatic spinal cord injury incidence, etiology, mortality, and associated surgical procedures in the United States from 1993 to 2012. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of survey data from the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample databases for 1993-2012, including a total of 63,109 patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Age- and sex-stratified incidence of acute traumatic spinal cord injury; trends in etiology and in-hospital mortality of acute traumatic spinal cord injury.