Drive by the book, save spine, be fine

Wearing seat belt, helmet and adhering to specified speed limits not only prevent frequent flag-downs and fines but also help avoid disability due to spinal injury.

According to an epidemiological study conducted by Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Delhi, road accidents cause most spinal cord injuries in the country, leading to disability in 43.5% of cases.

The second-most common cause of spinal injuries is fall from a height, resulting in disability in 38% of cases.

Similar studies conducted in developed countries, particularly the West, too have found road mishaps to be the biggest cause of spinal injuries.

Such injuries in India often result in paraplegia (paralysis of both limbs below the torso) among 65% of patients as compared to 46% in the US. Experts said this was a relatively better situation than developing tetraplegia (paralysis of all four limbs).

However, 69% of patients in India have complete injuries (cannot recover at all) as against 39.8% in the US.
According to the study, men are at a higher risk of suffering such a disability, probably due to the fact that most Indian women are housewives and not predisposed to injury. The most affected age group is 20-30 years, followed by 32-40 years.

HS Chhabra, one of the doctors involved in the study, said the biggest reason for road accident disability in India was poor pre-hospital care.

“Much injury takes place at the time of impact. But poor pre-hospital care leads to complete disability in many cases. Treatment at site, moving the victim to the nearest hospital, stabilising and then shifting him/her to a spinal injury care centre is needed,” he said.

Chhabra said the US managed to reduce complete disability and mortality among victims by half through proper pre-hospital care.