Objective:Traumatic injuries due to accidents are the leading causes of death and disability in the population of young adults in many countries. Spinal fractures are among the multiple injuries by traumatic mechanisms. The incidence of these injuries is estimated between 8,000 and 16,000 new cases per year and are associated with high-energy trauma. Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted at the Hospital Central Cruz Roja Mexicana. We reviewed 68 medical records of patients admitted to the emergency department of that hospital and were diagnosed with some type of traumatic vertebral fracture associated with high-energy trauma. Results: The sample consisted of 53 men and 15 women, of whom 11 patients with cervical spine injury, 2 with cervicothoracic injury, 16 with thoracic injury, five with thoracolumbar fracture and 34 with lumbar injury. Conclusions: The lumbar spine is more prone to suffer injuries by high-energy mechanism, followed by the thoracic and cervical spine, respectively. The thoracolumbar junction is more frequently affected than the cervicothoracic junction in a ratio of 2:1.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with the persistence of pain in patients operated on for lumbar stenosis. Method: One hundred and fifty-three patients were studied, divided into two groups: 1) Patients with persistent pain in varying degrees, 2) Patients without pain. Age, sex, affected levels, comorbidities, surgical risk, and type of surgical procedure were evaluated. Results: There were 108 patients in the group with pain and 45 in the group without pain. In the group with pain, there were 28 patients with diabetes mellitus, 31 smokers, and 28 alcohol-dependent patients, with a significant difference of p = 0.001 and an RR = 1.1. A simple widening procedure was performed in 48 patients in the group with pain and 12 patients in the group without pain, with RR = 0.8, and widening plus instrumentation was performed in 7 patients in both the with and without pain groups. Conclusion: The indication of a surgical procedure in patients with spinal stenosis must take many factors into account in addition to clinical factors and the segments affected, since these factors impact patient prognosis. In the multivariate analysis, the variable most closely associated with persistent pain was the procedure performed. Level of Evidence III; Case-control study.g