Objectives: Wheelchairs are the prime mobility aid of persons with spinal cord injuries. Manual wheelchair propulsion puts a lot of demand on the cardiopulmonary as well as the skeletal system. The main purpose of the study was to compare the effects of both arm ergometry training and progressive resistance exercise training of upper limbs on resting heart rate and distance covered during wheel...

Introduction Acute autonomic system impairment can be dangerous and lifethreatening, and a clinician should be aware of its occurrence possibility. According to the anatomy of this system, spinal cord lesions could disturb its function. There are many reports of autonomic dysreflexia in spinal cord injuries especially spinal cord trauma (1). Acute and dangerous autonomic dysreflexia during spin...

Because there is no curative treatment for spinal cord injury, establishing an ideal animal model is important to identify injury mechanisms and develop therapies for individuals suffering from spinal cord injuries. In this article, we systematically review and analyze various kinds of animal models of spinal cord injury and assess their advantages and disadvantages for further studies.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Imaging technology is an important part of the diagnosis and management of spinal trauma. Indications and findings in post-traumatic imaging of the vertebral column and spinal cord are reviewed. METHODS An extensive literature review was performed on the imaging of vertebral and spinal cord injury. Relevant images from a Level I trauma center were included as examples. ...

Internal fixation of traumatic spinal injuries has been associated with spinal canal stenosis, spinal cord compression, and nerve root impingement. We present a case of spinal cord/cauda equina compression due to migration of intact, anchored thoracolumbar Luque rods into the spinal canal through a laminectomy defect, leading to neurologic complications 10 years after the original operation.

In the U.S. there are over 300,000 people who suffer from spinal cord injuries. This incident increases every year by 10,000 to 12,000 new patients (Harrop et al., 2006). In Canada, about 36,000 people live with spinal cord injuries, while 55% of them, are people in the reproductive phase of their life, aged 16-30 years, and the ratio of men to women is calculated to 4 /1(Mittmann et al., 2005)...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with the subjective well-being of individuals with spinal cord injuries, while acknowledging theories that describe the subjective well-being tendency to homeostasis. METHODS A representative community cross-sectional cohort of 443 adults with traumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury completed a self-report survey (by int...

Acute spinal cord injuries commonly seen in veterinary patients include vascular, compressive, and concussive injuries. Vascular lesions, or infracts, are usually caused by fibrocartilagenous emboli. Concussive and compressive injuries have a variety of pathologies, including intervertebral disk disease, fractures, and luxations (dislocations) of the vertebral column. Although considerable cont...

Each year, some 12,000 Americans are rendered paraplegic or quadriplegic by spinal cord injury. Most of these injuries result from motor vehicle accidents, falls, and sports-related trauma. Although the short-term and long-term prognosis for paraplegic and quadriplegic patients has improved in recent years, an alarmingly large number of these patients die before or during initial hospitalizatio...

Improved disaster response has led to higher survival rates and an increasing number of injuries in relation to deaths (injury to death ratio). Recent earthquakes, in particular, have led to unprecedented numbers of spinal cord injuries. Meeting the needs of individuals with spinal cord injuries is particularly challenging when disaster strikes a low resource environment. Clinicians who care fo...