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What's the difference between a paraplegic and a quadriplegic?
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You were wondering ...
Spinal cord injuries occur when there's damage to the spinal cord.
The result is loss of function, usually in mobility or feeling. Severe
injuries that occur in the neck usually result in quadriplegia, which
is paralysis from about the shoulders down. Typically, the higher the
neck injury, the more disability there is.
More than 54 percent of spinal cord injuries are the result of
vehicular collisions. More than a quarter result from other medical
conditions and sports injuries. Falls make up about 18 percent.
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What is meant by the terms "complete" and "incomplete" injuries?
Published 09/23/2005
| FAQs | Unrated
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Complete injuries result in total loss of sensation and function below the injury level. Incomplete injuries result in partial loss. "Complete" does not necessarily mean the cord has been severed. Each of the above categories can occur in paraplegia and quadriplegia.
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What is autonomic dysreflexia?
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The autonomic nervous system often becomes hyperactive in people with spinal cord injury. Autonomic dysreflexia manifests in large increases in blood pressure (hypertension) with systolic pressures exceeding 200 mm Hg, slow (bradycardia) or fast heart rate (tachycardia), headaches, facial flushing, exuberant sweating, hyperthermia, stuffy nose, goose pimples, nausea, and other signs of autonomic hyperactivity. Called autonomic dysreflexia, these episodes may be spontaneously or may be instigated by infection, pain, or other conditions that stimulate the autonomic nervous system. Severe autonomic dysreflexia may be life-threatening.
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How does spinal cord injury affect the skin?
Published 09/23/2005
| FAQs | Unrated
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Spinal cord injury reduces or eliminates skin sensation in dermatomes below the injury site. Because people cannot feel or move, they may sit or lie for long times on certain parts of their body. Pressure impedes blood flow in the skin. Due to muscle atrophy, the normal tissue padding that cushions the butt may be reduced. Absence of sensation, loss of muscle padding, and long periods of pressure can lead to skin breakdown and development of pressure sores or decubiti. Decubiti are potentially life threatening but preventable.
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What happens to the bladder, bowel, and sexual function?
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The spinal cord also carries “autonomic” signals that control blood pressure, blood flow, breathing, sweating, bowel, bladder, sexual, and other autonomic functions.
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How is spinal cord injury classified?
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In 1990, the American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) proposed a uniform classification system that had five categories, defined in Table 1. Motor level is defined as the level at which the key muscle innervated by the segment has at least 3/5 of its normal strength. Sensory level is defined as the lowest spinal cord level that still has normal pinprick and touch sensation. If there is a spinal cord level below which there is no voluntary motor or conscious sensory function, the person is called a “complete” spinal cord injury. Since the S5 is the lowest spinal cord level that innervates the anal sphincter, a person that has no voluntary anal sphincter control or sensation is defined as a “complete” spinal cord injury. A person who has any anal control or sensation is an “incomplete” spinal cord injury. Some people may have a “complete” spinal cord injury but still has preserved motor or sensory function between the injury level and S5. This is called the “zone of partial preservation”. Usually, the spinal cord injury level and severity is classified between 72 hours and 7 days after injury. Note that some people have neurological loss at a given spinal cord level but partially preserved function for several or even many segments; this is called the zone of partial preservation (ZPP).
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What is spinal cord injury?
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Many misconceptions abound concerning spinal cord injury. For example, many people believe that the spinal cord below the injury site dies after injury. Others think that the injured spinal cord is like a cut telephone wire and can be fixed by reconnecting the cut ends. Some people think that the vertebral column is the spinal cord. Even doctors have misleading and inaccurate ideas about spinal cord injury. For example, many doctors casually use the word “transection” to refer to severely injured spinal cords. The word should only be applied to the extremely rare situation when the spinal cord has been cut and the cut ends are separated.
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What is the spinal cord?
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This may seem to be silly question but, until people get spinal cord injury or know somebody who is, most pay little attention to their spinal cords. Most people don’t know the different parts of the spinal cord, what each part does, and how the spinal cord transmits sensory and motor information. Many think that the spinal cord conducts information like a telephone wire and the spinal cord can be fixed by reconnecting it. Some people mistakenly believe that the spinal cord is the vertebral column. While almost everybody knows that spinal cord injury causes paralysis, many are not aware that the spinal cord also controls the bladder and bowel, sexual function, blood pressure, skin blood flow, sweating, and temperature regulation.
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How many spinal cord injuries occur in the U.S. each year?
Published 09/16/2005
| FAQs | Unrated
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Studies suggest the incidence rate of SCI is about 40 cases per million population, excluding those who die at the scene of the accident. Given a current United States population of approximately 281.4 million persons, this means that over 11,000 new cases occur each year.
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Does everyone who sustains a spinal cord injury use a wheelchair?
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No. Wheelchairs are tools for mobility. High C-level injuries usually require that the individual use a power wheelchair. Low C-level injuries and below usually allow the person to use a manual chair. Advantages of manual chairs are that they cost less, weigh less, disassemble into smaller pieces, and are more agile.
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