Quantifying the Risk of Spinal Injury in Motor Vehicle Collisions According to Ambulatory Status: A Prospective Analytical Study.

Background: The association between ambulation at the scene of a motor vehicle collision (MVC) and spinal injury has never been quantified.

Objective: To evaluate the association between ambulation and spinal injury in patients involved in a MVC.

Methods: Prospective analytical-observational cohort study. Inclusion: patients sustaining traumatic injury in a MVC. Exclusion: < 18 years old, pregnancy.

Primary Outcome: spinal injury defined as injury to the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spinal cord, bones, or ligaments. Secondary outcome: Injury resulting in neurological deficit, need for surgery, or death. A generalized linear model was used to evaluate the association between outcome and predictor variables. Risk ratios [RR] were reported with a point estimate and 95% confidence interval (CI). A two-tailed alpha of < 0.05 was the threshold for statistical significance.

Results: There were 704 patients analyzed. Nonambulatory patients were 2.29 times more likely to sustain a spinal injury, compared to ambulatory patients (RR 2.29, 95% CI 1.34-3.91). Patients ≥ 65 years of age were 3.27 times more likely to sustain a spinal injury (RR 3.27, 95% CI 1.66-6.45). Patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale score ≤ 8 were 4.93 times more likely to sustain a spinal injury (RR 4.93, 95% CI 1.86-13.10).

Conclusion: In this prospective analytical-observational study evaluating the association between ambulatory status and spinal injury in patients involved in MVCs, we observed that those patients who were nonambulatory were more than two times as likely to have a spinal injury compared to those patients who were ambulatory at the scene.