Traditionally complex spinal surgery in Belfast has been performed at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH). Since an amalgamation the RVH has become effectively the level 1 trauma centre for the province. The ever increasing complexity of spinal surgery in addition to changes in practice such as the management of metastatic spinal cord, are placing significant demands on the service. At a time when resources are scarce trends in patient profiles are highly important to allow adequate planning of our service. To establish trends in patient profiles in a level one trauma centre also managing spinal pathology over the last 10 years and to examine the impact of this on our service.Introduction
Aim
