Introduction
Diving is not a rare cause of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), any more in Korea. However, any studies were conducted regarding SCI due to diving accident in Korea yet. The purpose of this study is to collect the basic data for personal and social status of people with SCI due to diving accident, and circumstances at the time of diving injury to establish the plan for prevention of SCI due to diving accident in Korea.
Methods
We conducted retrospective analysis of people with SCI due to diving accident who visited Seoul National University Hospital from 2010 to 2019 or National Traffic Injury Rehabilitation Hospital from 2014 to 2019. The electronic medical records were reviewed for medical and neurologic information. Then, telephone interviews were performed with questionnaire regarding specific circumstances at the time of injury and social status before and after SCI.
Results
Total 33 electrical medical records of people with SCI due to diving accident were analyzed and 27 persons responded to telephone interviews. 97% (n=32) of participants were male, 81.8% (n=27) were younger than 40 years at the time of injury. More than half of participants were above intermediate level at diving (54.5%, n=18) and swimming skills (75.8%, n=25). American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) A grade was the most common with 16 participants, and C4 was the most common neurologic level of injury (39.3%, n=13). SCI due to diving accident most commonly occurred in swimming pool in Korean holiday lodge (36.4%, n=12), followed by swimming pool in sports center (15.2%, n=5), and valley (12.1%, n=4). There were 18 sites where the accidents occurred at a depth of less than 1.4 meters, and only 2 of them had diving warning signs. 4 out of 9 married couples in ASIA A, and 1 out of 4 of ASIA B were divorced or separated after SCI. Total 8 out of 33 persons started their job again, with mean return time 33 months (SD 24.4) after SCI.
Conclusion
This is the first study on people with SCI due to diving accident in Korea. Our study investigated personal and social status of participants before and after SCI, and specific circumstances at the time of injury. To prevent further SCI due to diving accident, active promotion and education are needed, especially to young population regardless of their swimming or diving skills, and diving warning signs should be beside swimming pool in holiday lodge and sports center, and valley.
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