Assistant Professor, Dept of Forensic Medicine, Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary, Karnataka
*Corresponding author: Yogesh G, Assistant Professor, Dept of Forensic Medicine, Vijayanagar institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary, Karnataka, Contact no: 08123131424, 09449581462, E-mail: yoegshgovindappa@gmail.com
Road accidents happen to be the foremost cause of spinal injuries. The dissection of the spinal card is not a part of routine autopsy and fracture of cervical spine is easily overlooked at autopsy, as external signs of violence, hemorrhage around dislocation are often absent and studies in this regard are very few. There is a need to set up more specialized spinal trauma units across the country with good accessibility to poorer sections of society for comprehensive management of spinal cord injured patients.
A prospective cross sectional study of total 639 cases of fatal road traffic accidents brought to Victoria hospital mortuary, Bengaluru, for post mortem examination during 1st April 2009 to 30th Sept 2010.
Young male, motor cyclists, both male and female pedestrians are vulnerable group for spinal injury; cervical injuries were commonest among the spinal fractures. Deaths due to spinal injuries although less, Early liaison of hospitals without specialized spinal units to specialized spinal centers should be encouraged, so that early presentation of acute spinal cord injured patient to a specialized spinal unit leading to early total care and reduction of mortality can be carried out.
Spinal fracture, Road Traffic Accidents, paern, autopsy study
