Spinal Fracture Treatment in Delhi
Sama Hospital — a NABH-accredited, doctor-owned hospital in South Delhi — treats spinal fractures with a round-the-clock orthopaedic service and an emergency theatre. See also our Neuro & Spine department.
If Someone Has Just Injured Their Spine
This is the most important paragraph on this page, and it is written for the person standing at the roadside.
Do not move them. Do not let them get up and walk. Call an ambulance.
An unstable spinal fracture can be made catastrophically worse by movement. A fracture that has not damaged the spinal cord can go on to damage it if the spine is allowed to bend. Keep them still, keep them warm, and wait for trained help.
Go to an emergency department immediately for: severe back or neck pain after a fall or accident, weakness or numbness in the arms or legs, or any loss of bladder or bowel control.
Not Every Spinal Fracture Causes Paralysis
The spine is a column of bones; the spinal cord runs inside it. Breaking the bone is not the same as damaging the cord.
Many spinal fractures are stable, leave the cord untouched, and are treated in a brace without any surgery at all. Paralysis happens when the cord itself is injured.
The whole purpose of urgent assessment and careful handling is to stop a fracture that has not hurt the cord from going on to do so.
Osteoporotic Fractures in Older People
A different situation, and a very common one.
An older person — more often a woman — develops sudden severe back pain with little or no injury. A vertebra weakened by osteoporosis has collapsed under ordinary load. Sometimes there is no fall at all; sometimes it happens lifting a bucket.
Most are treated with a brace and pain relief. Some benefit from vertebroplasty — bone cement injected into the collapsed vertebra, which can relieve pain quickly.
But the fracture is a warning. The osteoporosis itself must be treated, or there will be more fractures. Treating the broken bone and ignoring the weak skeleton is doing half the job.
When Surgery Is Needed
- The fracture is unstable — the spine cannot hold its alignment
- The fracture is compressing the spinal cord or nerve roots
- Alignment cannot be maintained in a brace
Surgery stabilises the spine with screws and rods and takes pressure off the cord. It is done to prevent further damage and to allow safe, early mobilisation.
An Honest Word About Paralysis
Families ask us whether surgery will reverse paralysis, and they deserve a straight answer rather than a hopeful one.
Surgery aims to stabilise the spine and decompress the cord, giving it the best chance it has. Some patients do recover function — particularly where the cord was compressed rather than destroyed.
But a completely injured spinal cord does not, at present, regenerate. Anyone who promises you it will is not being straight with you. What rehabilitation reliably does — and it does it well — is maximise the function that remains, and rebuild a life around it.
Cost of Spinal Fracture Treatment in Delhi
What moves the figure: whether treatment is bracing or surgery; the number of levels stabilised; the implants used; whether vertebroplasty is performed; ICU requirement; and the length of stay and rehabilitation.
We quote an all-inclusive package, confirmed after clinical assessment, with cashless treatment available for eligible insurance patients. See our cost estimate page.
Why Choose Sama Hospital
Doctor-owned, NABH-accredited, in South Delhi since 1982, with an emergency theatre and nine orthopaedic consultants named on this page.
And where a brace will do, you will get a brace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do at the scene of an accident?
Do not move them. Do not let them stand or walk. Call an ambulance. Movement can turn a fracture that has not injured the spinal cord into one that has.
Does a spinal fracture mean paralysis?
No. Many spinal fractures are stable, do not touch the cord, and are treated in a brace. Paralysis occurs only when the cord itself is damaged.
My elderly mother has sudden back pain with no fall.
That is the classic picture of an osteoporotic compression fracture. It is treatable — and it is a warning that the osteoporosis itself needs treating, or more fractures will follow.
Can paralysis be reversed?
Surgery aims to prevent further damage and give the cord its best chance, and some patients do recover function. But a completely injured cord does not currently regenerate, and we will not tell you otherwise. Rehabilitation maximises what remains.
Is surgery always needed?
No. Stable fractures not compressing the cord are usually treated with a brace and time.
