Trends in the treatment of patients with spinal cord lesions seen within a period of 20 years in German centers.

Twenty-one special centers are running treatment of spinal cord injuries in Germany. Their heads represent a study group to coordinate methods and to investigate results collecting data since 1976. So we have experiences for about 20 years. 1500 recent cases are treated per annum. Seventy-five percent got their lesion by trauma. Beside these there is only a little capacity to treat patients with non-traumatic or congenital lesions (25%). Sixty-two percent are para-, 38% are tetraplegic, 28% female, 2% are children. Within 22,212 recent cases 35% got their injury by traffic, 14% at work. Sports and diving caused 4%, suicide 5% and killing attempts 1%. Though numbers since 1976 are decreasing, traffic and work are main reasons causing spinal injuries. Readmission reasons are mainly disorders of soft tissues (23%) and the urinary tract (21%). Out-patients are checked in 67% of all cases. All investigation data represent very stable trends within the last 20 years. Altogether the special centers carried out treatment and consultation in about 22,000 recent cases, 45,000 readmissions and 80,000 out-patients.