ABSTRACT
The reported annual incidence of acute traumatic spinal cord injury varies tremendously, ranging from 10 to 80 per million population per annum,1 and the proportion with tetraplegia compared with paraplegia has increased over the years towards half. Acute ventilation has been reported in over two-thirds of all new cases of mid-and low-level tetraplegia, 87 per cent being associated with pneumonia and nearly half having tracheostomy. Early ‘airway control’ has been recommended to prevent catastrophic respiratory failure.2 Around 2 per cent of all new spinal cord injury cases require ventilatory support beyond the immediate period; this may work out around 2 per 10 million per annum.
