Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury, or myelopathy, is a disturbance of the spinal cord that results in loss of sensation and mobility. The two common types of spinal cord injury are: more...

Home
Diseases
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
Sabinas brittle hair...
Saccharopinuria
Sacral agenesis
Saethre-Chotzen syndrome
Salla disease
Salmonellosis
Sandhoff disease
Sanfilippo syndrome
Sarcoidosis
Say Meyer syndrome
Scabies
Scabiophobia
Scarlet fever
Schamberg disease...
Schistosomiasis
Schizencephaly
Schizophrenia
Schmitt Gillenwater Kelly...
Sciatica
Scimitar syndrome
Sciophobia
Scleroderma
Scrapie
Scurvy
Selachophobia
Selective mutism
Seminoma
Sensorineural hearing loss
Seplophobia
Sepsis
Septo-optic dysplasia
Serum sickness
Severe acute respiratory...
Severe combined...
Sezary syndrome
Sheehan syndrome
Shigellosis
Shingles
Shock
Short bowel syndrome
Short QT syndrome
Shprintzen syndrome
Shulman-Upshaw syndrome
Shwachman syndrome
Shwachman-Diamond syndrome
Shy-Drager syndrome
Sialidosis
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease
Siderosis
Silicosis
Silver-Russell dwarfism
Sipple syndrome
Sirenomelia
Sjogren's syndrome
Sly syndrome
Smallpox
Smith-Magenis Syndrome
Sociophobia
Soft tissue sarcoma
Somniphobia
Sotos syndrome
Spasmodic dysphonia
Spasmodic torticollis
Spherocytosis
Sphingolipidosis
Spinal cord injury
Spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal shock
Spinal stenosis
Spinocerebellar ataxia
Splenic-flexure syndrome
Splenomegaly
Spondylitis
Spondyloepiphyseal...
Spondylometaphyseal...
Sporotrichosis
Squamous cell carcinoma
St. Anthony's fire
Stein-Leventhal syndrome
Stevens-Johnson syndrome
Stickler syndrome
Stiff man syndrome
Still's disease
Stomach cancer
Stomatitis
Strabismus
Strep throat
Strongyloidiasis
Strumpell-lorrain disease
Sturge-Weber syndrome
Subacute sclerosing...
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sugarman syndrome
Sweet syndrome
Swimmer's ear
Swyer syndrome
Sydenham's chorea
Syncope
Syndactyly
Syndrome X
Synovial osteochondromatosis
Synovial sarcoma
Synovitis
Syphilis
Syringomas
Syringomyelia
Systemic carnitine...
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Systemic mastocytosis
Systemic sclerosis
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Medicines
  • Trauma : automobile accidents, falls, gunshots, diving accidents, etc.
  • Disease : polio, spina bifida, tumors, Friedreich's ataxia, etc.

It is important to note that the spinal cord does not have to be completely severed for there to be a loss of function. In fact, the spinal cord remains intact in most cases of spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injuries are not the same as back injuries such as ruptured disks, spinal stenosis or pinched nerves. It is possible to "break one's neck or back" and not sustain a spinal cord injury if only the vertebrae are damaged, but the spinal cord remains intact.

About 450,000 people in the United States live with spinal cord injury, and there are about 11,000 new spinal cord injuries every year. The majority of them (78%) involve males between the ages of 16-30 and result from motor vehicle accidents (42%), violence (24%), or falls (22%).

The Effects of Spinal Cord Injury

The exact effects of a spinal cord injury vary according to the type and level injury, and can be organized into two types:

  • In a complete injury, there is no function below the level of the injury. Voluntary movement is impossible and physical sensation is impossible. Complete injuries are always bilateral, that is, both sides of the body are affected equally.
  • A person with an incomplete injury retains some sensation below the level of the injury. Incomplete injuries are variable, and a person with such an injury may be able to move one limb more than another, may be able to feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other.

In addition to a loss of sensation and motor function below the point of injury, individuals with spinal cord injuries will often experience other changes.

Bowel and bladder function is associated with the sacral region of the spine, so it is very common to experience dysfunction of the bowel and bladder. Sexual function is also associated with the sacral region, and is also affected very often. Injuries very high on the spinal cord (C-1, C-2) will often result in a loss of many involuntary functions, such as breathing, necessitating mechanical ventilators or diaphragmatic pacemakers. Other effects of spinal cord injury can include an inability to regulate heart rate (and therefore blood pressure), reduced control of body temperature, inability to sweat below the level of injury, and chronic pain.

The Location of the Injury

Knowing the exact level of the injury on the spinal cord is important when predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


The Rehabilitation of People with Spinal Cord Injury . - 2nd Ed - Review - book review
From Journal of Rehabilitation, 1/1/01 by Joseph E. Havranek

The Rehabilitation of People with Spinal Cord Injury (2nd Ed.)

Shanker Nesathurai, MD, Editor Boston Medical Center Boston, MA 2000, 122 pages

This monograph is "intended to provide an overview of the clinical issues for resident physicians (p. 5). It provide an overview of the recovery process from initial evaluation to community re-entry along a continuum of treatment settings. The authors all acknowledge the critical importance of a team approach to spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment and rehabilitation. The book is remarkable for its concise yet thorough approach to a difficult subject. Although laden with medical terminology, it is not beyond understanding by trained rehabilitationists.

Subjects covered include: epidemiology, patholophysiology, and surgical management of SCI; clinical and functional evaluation; initial rehabilitation medicine consultation; bladder and bowel management; pressure ulcers; contracture management; autonomic dysfunction; upper motor neuron syndrome; heterotropic ossificans; psychological adaptation; sexuality; aging; wheelchair mobility; environmental modifications; and community reintegration.

The chapters are brief, but provide a tremendous amount of information, and the chapter structure is typically very direct. For example, the chapter on the initial rehabilitation medicine consultation includes a statement of the purpose of the chapter, elements of a consultation, bladder management, bowel management, pressure ulcers, contractures, autonomic dysfunction, upper motor neuron syndrome and spasticity, DVT prophylaxis, pulmonary issues, psychological adaptation, pain, comorbid conditions, disposition and discharge planning, long-term issues, and ends with a checklist of important report elements. Each of these subjects typically gets one or two paragraphs of coverage.

Special features of this monograph include a number of informative tables and figures, concise and consistent language style of each chapter, highly qualified writers on each subject (18 in all), and warnings about potentially adverse treatments. The targeted audience for this book is obviously residents and physiatrists, but allied medical and rehabilitation professionals will also find it of value when serving individuals with SCI.

The editor, Shanker Nesathurai, MD, is Chairman and Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, and Chief of Rehabilitation Services at Boston Medical Center. The Rehabilitation of People with Spinal Cord Injury is a concise reiteration of the medical aspects of SCI. This reviewer's only criticism is the lack of inclusion of the integral role of the rehabilitation counselor and the rehabilitation nurse in re-entry and adjustment to SCI issues, particularly vocational indications.

Joseph E. Havranek, Ed.D., CRC Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling Bowling Green State University

COPYRIGHT 2001 National Rehabilitation Association
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

Return to Spinal cord injury
Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay