Version 1
: Received: 13 August 2023 / Approved: 14 August 2023 / Online: 14 August 2023 (07:12:30 CEST)
How to cite:
Crostelli, M.; Mazza, O.; Manfroni, F.; Tundo, F.; Calogero, V.; Mazza, M.; Averna, R.; Vicari, S. Vertebral Fractures in Pediatric Suicidal Jumpers: Epidemiological and Clinical Analysis before and after Pandemic COVID-19. Preprints2023, 2023080987. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0987.v1
Crostelli, M.; Mazza, O.; Manfroni, F.; Tundo, F.; Calogero, V.; Mazza, M.; Averna, R.; Vicari, S. Vertebral Fractures in Pediatric Suicidal Jumpers: Epidemiological and Clinical Analysis before and after Pandemic COVID-19. Preprints 2023, 2023080987. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0987.v1
Crostelli, M.; Mazza, O.; Manfroni, F.; Tundo, F.; Calogero, V.; Mazza, M.; Averna, R.; Vicari, S. Vertebral Fractures in Pediatric Suicidal Jumpers: Epidemiological and Clinical Analysis before and after Pandemic COVID-19. Preprints2023, 2023080987. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0987.v1
APA Style
Crostelli, M., Mazza, O., Manfroni, F., Tundo, F., Calogero, V., Mazza, M., Averna, R., & Vicari, S. (2023). Vertebral Fractures in Pediatric Suicidal Jumpers: Epidemiological and Clinical Analysis before and after Pandemic COVID-19. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0987.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Crostelli, M., Roberto Averna and Stefano Vicari. 2023 "Vertebral Fractures in Pediatric Suicidal Jumpers: Epidemiological and Clinical Analysis before and after Pandemic COVID-19" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0987.v1
Abstract
Introduction:
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 19-years-olds in Europe. From the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, literature confirms a significant increase in mental health disease in children and adolescents. At Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital emergency department (Rome, Italy) there was a dramatic increase of suicidal attempts, and particularly a rise of suicidal jumpers. Many of these patients presented vertebral fractures.
Material and Methods:
This retrospective study includes all suicidal jumpers with vertebral fractures treated at our Pediatric Hospital from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2023. We collected and compared data from three years before to three years after pandemic spreading analyzing vertebral fractures.
Results:
From April 1 2019 to March 31, 2020 141 cases of suicide attempt arrived at Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital emergency department. Five of these patients were suicidal jumpers but none had a vertebral fracture. From April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2023, 362 cases of suicide attempts arrived in the same emergency department and 19 were suicidal jumpers; 12 reported vertebral fractures and were included in this study.
Mean age was 14 years. Most common level of fracture was L1.
Four patients presented with preoperative neurologic impairment and two cases recovered completely. There was a transforaminal sacral fracture, a spinopelvic dissociation and an Anderson-D’Alonso C2 type II fracture. Two cases with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures were conservatively treated. Seven patients were treated by percutaneous pedicle fixation to achieve an indirect decompression and to restore a better sagittal balance. Only three patients needed an open spinal surgery by posterior approach and in two cases a posterior decompression was performed. One case with cervical fractures was treated by Halo-Vest.
Conclusions: Recent literature highlights concern about the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric population mental health. This is the first report that shows a significant increase in vertebral body fractures due to suicide jumping attempt. The comparison between three years pre and post pandemic is sufficient to demonstrate a sharp increase of these cases.
This could be a new epidemiological phenomenon that could persist or even increase over time because of COVID-19 pandemic.
Medicine and Pharmacology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
