ABSTRACT
Trauma continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed and developing countries worldwide. The incidence of neurotrauma ranges from 200 to 600 injuries per 100,000 people. However, these data are scattered and the real incidences of central nervous system injury are underestimated considerably. A large number of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) require operative intervention. The majority of SCI involves the cervical spinal column and 15% involves the thoracolumbar junction. The most common causes of SCI globally are traffic accidents, falls, and violence. Multimodality neuromonitoring is sensitive and specific enough to detect neurologic injury during spine surgery and the anesthetic that is used has an impact on the quality of the multimodality neuromonitoring. Researchers are constantly working on preventing neurotrauma and improving treatment. Target-oriented treatment and prevention require a deep understanding of incidence, causes of injury, treatment approaches, and outcome results.
