To evaluate demographic and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with spinal cord injury (SCI) admitted to a single-center.

A retrospective study realized in a single-center study university hospital center Sahloul, Sousse, Tunisia. This study reviewed 177 patients with SCI. Data were extracted from medical records and retrospectively reviewed.

A total of 177 patients with a diagnosis of SCI were included in the analysis. Of these, 108 (61.1%) had traumatic SCI (TSCI) and 69 (38.9%) had non-traumatic SCI (NTSCI). The principal causes of traumatic TSCI were motor vehicle accidents in 52 patients (48.1%), falls in 27 patients (25.0%). Degenerative disease-causing myelopathy and hernia was the main cause of NTSCI in 50 patients (50.9%), followed by infection in 21.6 patients (14.9%). The age of patients with NTSCI was higher (49 vs. 34; P<0.001) and SCI was less severe, AIS D 40.6% vs. 10.5% (P=0.0001) compared with the TSCI group.

The demographic profiles of patients with TSCI and NTSCI differ in terms of proportion of total SCIs, patient age, male: female ratio and incomplete vs. complete injury. The most common etiology of TSCI was motor vehicle accidents (48.1%), and neurological lesions were complete in 61.1% of patients. The most common etiology of NTSCI was degenerative causes (50.9%), and lesions were incomplete in 88.5% of patients.