Recovery is the rule and not the exception after spinal cord injury. The probability of recovery is high, especially after “incomplete” spinal cord injury.

Clinical trial data indicate that if a person had even slight sensation or movement below the injury site shortly after injury, they will recover an average of 59% of the function they lost and, if they receive high-dose methylprednisolone, they will recover an average of 75% of what they had lost.

People admitted to hospital with no motor or sensory function below the injury site recover an average of 8% of the function they had lost but will recover an average of 21% if they received methylprednisolone.