TITLE:
Epidemiological, Clinical and Therapeutic Aspects of Spinal Pathology in Military People in a Country at War
AUTHORS:
Mamadou Salia Diarra, Mohamed El Hassimi Cissé, Izoudine B. Koumaré, Oumar Diallo, Drissa Kanikomo
KEYWORDS:
Military, Spine, Spondylolisthesis, Mali
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Neurosurgery,
Vol.12 No.1,
January
17,
2022
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Lumbar and sciatic pain are frequent motives of disability in military
people in Mali. As spine surgery isn’t recognized enough, our study aims to analyze
etiologies, epidemiology, clinical features and surgical standards in order to
improve troop abilities. Methodology: Our descriptive and retrospective
study has included 31 operated military patients who underwent medical or
surgical procedures between 2010 and 2018 in the Military Neurology/Neurosurgery
Unit and Mère-Enfant
Hospital Neurosurgery department. Results: Among 553 seen in
consultation, fifty percent were between 30 and 50 years old. Main motive was
sciatic pain (65.5%). Seventy eight percent of our patients were field
militaires and sub-officers, and 83.2% were males. All of them have benefited a
CT scan or MRI with medical treatment in rheumatology or neurology. Thirty-one
patients underwent spine surgery and were included in the study, so 6% (mean
age: 43.52 years, 90.3% males). Lumbar spine surgery represented 54.8% of cases
with lumbar canal stenosis in 64.5% of cases. It appeared that
spondylolisthésis with isthmic fracture was frequent (12.9%), and traumatic
cervical spine fractures were dominant in 2012. Instrumented arthrodesis was
performed for 41.9% of patients, lumbar discectomy for 32.3% and laminectomies
for 22.6%. Degenerative etiology was found in 77.4% of cases and we’ve noticed
a good outcome in 93.5% of operated cases. Conclusion: Spinal pathology
in military people in Mali is in relation with training, weight carrying and transport
conditions on tough terrain. Traumatic traffic injuries are the most common
even in war time.