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By ABDUL HANNAN TAGO Traffic accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injuries (SCI) in Saudi Arabia and a study predicts that medical costs to treat 50,000 cases of undiagnosed patients may reach SR25 billion by 2020. The national study conducted by Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was submitted at the International Conference for Detecting Spinal Cord Injuries.

Sultan bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City (SAHC) organized the event in Riyadh.

The survey, covering various regions, was carried out by specialists for 3,740 cases over the past five years.

The study showed that traffic accidents accounted for 61 percent of spinal cord injuries, which contribute to the occurrence of quadriplegia.

The other causes of spinal cord injuries were sports-related (0.77 percent) and work-related (1.31 percent).

The Central Province topped these injuries by 46 percent, followed by the Western Province (26 percent), Eastern Province (13 percent), Southern Province (8 percent) and Northern Province (7 percent).

The study showed that among the injuries caused by traffic accidents, 63 percent of the cases were due to overturning of the vehicle, 26 percent due to collision with cars and 4 percent due to car-camel collisions.

The study revealed that only 32 percent of the accident victims used seat belts, while 68 percent did not.

A breakdown of the victims by gender shows that males comprised 69 percent while females made up 21 percent.

Among the other findings was that following injury people tend to gain weight due to inactivity.

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