Spinal Cord Injuries (Subscribe)

Heterotopic ossification (HO) following spinal cord injury (SCI) was described first by Dejerine and Ceillier in 1918 as paraosteoarthropathy. The process is one of formation of mature lamellar bone, which is indistinguishable from normal bone, in soft tissues surrounding paralyzed joints. The bone is not connected to periosteum and becomes...

The immobilization from acute spinal cord injury (SCI) stimulates osteoclastic bone resorption. This process results in calcium loss from the bones and hypercalciuria. Hypercalcemia results when the efflux of calcium is massive or the glomerular filtration rate of the kidneys is reduced. The onset of hypercalcemia usually is insidious. The patient...

One of the inevitable complications of spinal cord injury (SCI) is the associated osteoporosis that occurs predominantly in the pelvis and the lower extremities. The acute treatment of patients with SCI has always focused on the injury itself and on the immediate complications that subsequently arise. Bone loss as a...

First described by Bastian in 1867, posttraumatic syringomyelia (PTS) refers to the development and progression of a cyst filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the spinal cord. PTS is a relatively infrequent, but potentially devastating, complication following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). PTS is characterized clinically by the often insidious...

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are common complications of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this patient population. Many patients with SCI do not receive DVT prophylaxis in the acute care setting, perhaps secondary to concomitant medical problems that...

Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) usually have permanent and often devastating neurologic deficits and disability.
The goals for the emergency physician are to establish the diagnosis and initiate treatment to prevent further neurologic injury from either pathologic motion of the injured vertebrae or secondary injury from the deleterious effects...

The characteristics of aging have been well defined through the years. Menter and Hudson describe normal aging as involving 3 processes, all overlapping and distinctly different. These processes include (1) the physiologic changes of the body itself, (2) the individual's changing social roles, and (3) self-realization. This article focuses primarily...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is an insult to the spinal cord resulting in a change, either temporary or permanent, in its normal motor, sensory, or autonomic function. The International Standards for Neurological and Functional Classification of Spinal Cord Injury is a widely accepted system describing the level and the extent...

Spinal cord disease can result from diverse pathologic processes including trauma. Irrespective of the pathogenesis, it can lead to significant impairment of motor, sensory, or autonomic function. This review focuses on the clinical description of common patterns of spinal cord involvement. Considerable differences exist in terms of clinical complications after traumatic...