CHAPTER 14
STAB WOUNDS OF THE SPINAL CORD
Stab wounds of the spinal cord have been repeatedly reported in the literature (Petren,
1910; Rand & Patterson, 1929; Foerster, 1929; St John & Rand, 1943; Rosenberg,
1957; Lipschitz & Block, 1962; Lipschitz & Hagen, 1964; Lipschitz, 1967, 1971; Key &
Retief, 1970). Lipschitz, neurosurgeon at Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, has
recently (1971) written a review about 252 cases of this type of spinal injury treated by
him and his team during a period of 12 years. The fact that this hospital is situated in an
area of coloured people living in South Africa under primitive and unsatisfactory social
FIG. 903. By courtesy of Dr Ailie Key.
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