Objective: To investigate the difference of outcome variables and demographic features between traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.

Method: Medical records of 87 spinal cord injured patients were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were divided into traumatic and non-traumatic groups. The etiology, level and completeness of SCI were investigated. The functional evaluation was performed by Frankel's classification, American spinal cord injury association (ASIA) motor and sensory scores, and modified Barthel scores at the time of admission and discharge. Bladder function and emptying method were also investigated.

Results: Spinal cord injury of non-traumatic etiology was more likely to result in a incomplete injury and more prevalent in females. At admission, the ASIA motor and sensory scores and modified Barthel index of non-traumatic spinal cord injury patient were higher than those of traumatic patients. At discharge, same results were observed for ASIA motor and sensory scores, but the modified Barthel scores showed no difference between the two groups. The changes of the scores between time of admission and discharge showed no significant difference in the two groups. There was no significant difference of bladder type and bladder emptying method.

Conclusion: This study suggest that favorable outcome in non-traumatic spinal cord injury patients might be due to better functional status at the time of admission and not due to the degree of recovery.

Keywords :Outcome, Traumatic spinal cord injury, Non-traumatic spinal cord injury