In Australia, 53 spinal injuries arrive in our Emergency Departments every day. The Spinal injuries in Australia report describes emergency department (ED) presentations and hospitalisations for spinal injuries during 2020-21.
Along with a 10-year time series to assess trends, this report describes the main types, causes and activity at the time of injury, variation among specific populations, and severity. Throughout this report, injuries to the spinal column, spinal cord and associated nerves are referred to as spinal injuries.
- Cat. no: INJCAT 233
Findings from this report:
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Falls were the leading cause of spinal injury hospitalisations, followed by transport
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Males accounted for 2 in 3 spinal injury hospitalisations due to transport related causes
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Fractures were the most common type of spinal injury
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17% of all car related injury hospitalisations were for spinal injury hospitalisations