LAUSR

SPINAL TRAUMA IS COMMON IN POLYTRAUMA: spinal cord injury (SCI) is present in a subset of these patients. Penetrating SCI has been studied in military however, civilian SCI is less studied: civilian injuries pathophysiology varies given the general lower velocity of the projectiles. We sought to investigate civilian penetrating SCI in the U.S. METHODS We queried the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) for data regarding penetrating spinal cord injury from the last 10 years (2006 to 2015). The NIS includes data of 20% of discharged patients from U. S. hospitals. We analyzed trends of penetrating SCI its diagnosis, demographics, surgical management, length of stay and hospital costs. RESULTS In the past ten years the incidence of penetrating SCI in all SCI patients has remained stable with a mean of 5.5% (Range 4.3 to 6.6%). Of the patients with penetrating SCI only 17% of them underwent a surgical procedure, compared with 55% for non-penetrating SCI. Patients with penetrating SCI had a longer length of stay (average 23 days) compared to non-penetrating SCI (15 days). Hospital charges were higher for penetrating SCI, $230 186 compared to $192 022 for closed SCI. Males patients were more affected by penetrating SCI as well as Black and Hispanic population compared to whites. CONCLUSIONS Penetrating SCI represents 5.5% of all SCI patients. Men, black and Hispanic are disproportionally more affected by penetrating SCI. Patients with penetrating SCI have fewer surgical interventions however, their overall length of stay and hospital costs are greater compared to non-penetrating SCI.