Autonomic dysreflexia in spinal cord injury patients: an overview.

Introduction As chiropractors, we pride ourselves in our knowledge of the nervous system. An autonomic nervous system condition common to patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) is autonomic dysreflexia (AD).1 It is a syndrome of massive imbalanced reflex sympathetic discharge occurring in patients with SCI above the splanchnic sympathetic outflow (T5-T6).2 Chiropractors can play an important role in detecting and managing a potentially fatal AD episode in evolution.3 A patient may not be aware of the potential for AD in SCI, therefore risk factors for AD should be discussed in a thorough history of any SCI patient presenting to a clinical setting.4 Any treatment, including chiropractors care, could potentially trigger an AD event in a vulnerable patient.5 It is common for healthcare providers to miss an AD episode in evolution.4