Spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord gets damaged following
- An accident, falls, sporting injuries or following disease such as polio, spina bifida, transverse myelitis.
The damage to the spinal cord might be due to severing ( total or partial), crushing / compression or over stretching / tearing.
CAUSES
- Trauma
- Accident
- Diseases such as polio, spina bifida, transverse myelitis
- During gymnastics in children
- Child abuse
During childbirth
- traction on an infants trunk
- over-stretching of the spinal cord
- hyper extension of the fetal head from abnormal birthing positions
- brachial plexus palsy related damage to the spinal cord and nerves
Signs & symptoms
- Loss of touch sensation
- Failure to move/ paralysis
- Bowel & bladder control problems
- Abnormal reflexes
- Spasms
- Stinging pain caused by nerve damage around spinal cord
- Difficulty breathing
- Muscular weakness
- Intellectual disabilities
- Trouble walking
- Poor posture
- Loss of functional movement
DIAGNOSIS
- X-rays
- CT scan
- MRI
TREATMENT
- Immobilization
- Maintenance of oxygenation
- Spinal cord perfusion
- Supportive care
- Surgical stabilization when appropriate
- Long term symptomatic care & rehabilitation
Physiotherapy treatment
- Stretching : to maintain muscle & tendon length, reduce spasticity
- Strengthening exercise
- Breathing exercise : to maximize ling function &prevent chest infection
- Walking re-education
- Electrical stimulation
- Manual percussion, vibration
- Postural drainage