Esophageal sensation in spinal cord-injured patients: balloon distension and cerebral evoked potential recording

1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (6) ◽  
pp. G937-G941 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. DeVault ◽  
S. Beacham ◽  
D. O. Castell ◽  
L. J. Streletz ◽  
J. F. Ditunno

We sought to determine the esophageal sensory function in patients with a C6 or C7 spinal cord injury. A balloon was repetitively distended 10 cm above the lower esophageal sphincter in five patients and nine normal control subjects. Sensation was reported on a scale from 0 to 2 with progressive distension to pain threshold (level 2). Cortical responses were recorded from midline scalp electrodes. Blinded determinations of quality and reproducibility of the potentials were performed. All subjects experienced sensation with esophageal balloon distension. Volumes to sensation showed a trend toward a higher sensory threshold in patients but were significant only for first sensation, not pain. In all subjects, a triphasic evoked potential response consisting of a negative-positive-negative complex was noted with distension but not with sham distension. Characteristics (amplitude, latency, reproducibility, and quality) of the evoked potentials were not different in patient and control groups. These data suggest sensory pathways from the distal esophagus are intact in patients with a C6 or C7 spinal cord injury.

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-148
Author(s):  
Sergey Kolesov ◽  
Andrey Panteleyev ◽  
Maxim Sazhnev ◽  
Arkadiy Kazmin

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the amount of loss of function after spinal cord transection of varying extents, and whether magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, in combination with an external magnetic field, improve the rate of subsequent functional recovery in rats. Methods: The animals were divided into groups with 50%, 80% and complete spinal cord transection. The animals of all three study groups were administered magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle suspension to the area of injury. The three control groups were not administered magnetic nanoparticles, but had corresponding transection levels. All animals were exposed to a magnetic field for 4 weeks. Loss of postoperative function and subsequent recovery were assessed using the BBB motor function scale and somatosensory evoked potential monitoring on the first day after surgery, and then weekly. Terminal histological analysis was also conducted in all the groups. Results: The animals in the control or complete transection groups did not demonstrate statistically significant improvement in either the BBB scores or evoked potential amplitude over the four-week period. In the group with 50% transection, however, a statistically significant increase in evoked potential amplitude and BBB scores was observed four weeks after surgery, with the highest increase during the second week of the study. In the group with 80% transection, only improvement in evoked potential amplitude was statistically significant, although less pronounced than in the 50% transection group. Conclusion: The use of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in combination with a magnetic field leads to higher rates of functional recovery after spinal cord injury in laboratory animals. The mechanism of this functional improvement needs further investigation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Huan-xia Li ◽  
Jing Cui ◽  
Jing-shi Fan ◽  
Jian-zhou Tong

Objective: To examine the clinical efficacy of combining Riluzole with mannitol and hyperbaric oxygen therapy in treating thoracolumbar vertebral fracture-induced acute spinal cord injury (ASCI). Methods: From June 2015 to May 2018, 80 patients with thoracolumbar fractures and ASCI who were treated at Baoding First Central Hospital were selected. All patients underwent posterior laminectomy and screw fixation, and they were randomly divided into two groups using a random number table method. The control group received conventional postoperative treatment, while the experimental group was treated with riluzole combined with mannitol and hyperbaric oxygen on the basis of conventional treatment. The recovery of nerve function which included motor function and sensory function, and the changes of serum IL-6, CRP, BDNF, BFGF and other factors before treatment and four weeks after treatment of the two groups of patients were observed and evaluated. Results: After treatment, the motor function scores and sensory function scores of the two groups of patients were improved compared with those before treatment (p<0.05). Compared with the control group, the experimental group improved significantly, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). The levels of IL-6, BDNF and NFGF in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05). Conclusions: For patients with thoracolumbar fractures and ASCI undergoing laminar decompression and fixation, the comprehensive treatment plan of riluzole combined with mannitol and hyperbaric oxygen has certain advantages. Compared with the conventional therapy, it may significantly improve the movement and sensory functions of patients, relieve the inflammatory response of spinal cord, and promote recovery from the injury. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3418 How to cite this:Li H, Cui J, Fan J, Tong J. An observation of the clinical efficacy of combining Riluzole with mannitol and hyperbaric oxygen in treating acute spinal cord injury. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(2):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3418 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


2021 ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Ahmad Najib Ashraf ◽  
Abdulaziz Shebreen

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in loss of nervous tissue and consequently loss of motor and sensory function. Despite significant improvements in the early medical and surgical management of SCI, there is no effective treatment available that restores the injury-induced loss of function to a degree that an independent life can be guaranteed. Restoration of function and reversal of paralysis following SCI is among the most daunting challenges in all of neuroscience research. Methodology: We decided to study the outcomes in chronic SCI (CSCI) after autologous olfactory mucosal transplantation into the spinal cord following detethering of the cord. The human surgical procedure of autologous olfactory mucosal transplantation was first developed by Carlos Lima and his colleagues. These investigators provided guidance for the surgical procedures in this study and the procedures on the first six participants were performed in their presence. Result: Patients were screened at different centers in the kingdom. A stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. Patients for this clinical trial were selected from individuals that suffered an SCI at least 12 months before their assessment and were chronically paraplegic or tetraplegic. The final twenty participants were selected after screening more than 125 patients.  While some of them were rejected for medical reasons, some refused to participate upon receiving a full briefing and some of them were unable to fulfill the required psychosocial criteria. Conclusion: The details of the patients and the changes observed in their conditions post olfactory mucosal auto-transplantation will be discussed in detail in oral presentation with graphic results with marked significant improvement in motor and sensory levels of SCI patients as compared to before transplantation of olfactory mucosa. Olfactory unsheathing cells (OECs) are glia cells and continuous axon extension and successful topographic targeting of the olfactory receptor neurons responsible for the sense of smell (olfaction). Due to this distinctive property, OECs have been trialed in human cell transplant therapies to assist in the repair of central nervous system injuries, particularly those of the spinal cord. Although many studies have reported neurological improvement, therapy remains inconsistent and requires further improvement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 1078-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda E. Chisholm ◽  
Taha Qaiser ◽  
Alison M. M. Williams ◽  
Gevorg Eginyan ◽  
Tania Lam

Many people with motor-incomplete spinal cord injury (m-iSCI) experience difficulty navigating obstacles, such as curbs and stairs. The ability to relearn walking skills may be limited by proprioceptive deficits. The purpose of this study was to determine the capacity of participants to acquire a precision walking skill, and to evaluate the influence of proprioceptive deficits on the skill acquisition in individuals with m-iSCI. Sixteen individuals with m-iSCI and eight controls performed a precision walking task that required matching their foot height to a target during the swing phase. Proprioceptive deficits were quantified at the hip and knee for joint position and movement detection sense. Participants completed 600 steps of training with visual feedback. Pretraining and posttraining tests were conducted without visual feedback, along with a transfer test with an ankle weight. Posttraining and transfer tests were repeated 1 day later. Participants returned to the laboratory 1 wk later to repeat the training. Performance was calculated as the vertical distance between the target and actual foot height for each step. The posttraining and transfer performances were similar between groups. However, participants with m-iSCI had a slower rate of acquisition to achieve a similar performance level compared with controls. Acquisition rate and posttraining performance of the precision walking task were related to lower limb joint position sense among SCI participants. Although they can achieve a similar level of performance in a precision walking task, proprioceptive deficits impair the rate of learning among individuals with m-iSCI compared with able-bodied controls. NEW & NOTEWORTHY People with motor-incomplete spinal cord injuries are able to achieve the same level of performance accuracy on a precision walking task as able-bodied controls; however, the rate of learning is slower, indicating that more practice is required to stabilize performance. Our findings also show a relationship between impaired sensory function and reduced accuracy when performing a precision walking task after spinal cord injury.


1986 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 113-114
Author(s):  
A. J. Lasich

The nature of behavioural and emotional reactions displayed by persons with spinal cord injury are described and the value of psychiatric involvement in the routine management is discussed. The importance of emotional care of spinal cord injured patients is emphasized with reference to certain general principles. The psychiatrist should be accessible to both staff and patients for ventilation of feelings. 


2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Harrop ◽  
Ashwini D. Sharan ◽  
Gregory J. Przybylski

Object Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) after odontoid fracture is unusual. To identify predisposing factors, the authors evaluated a consecutive series of patients who sustained SCI from odontoid fractures. Methods A consecutive series of 5096 admissions to the Delaware Valley Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center were reviewed, and 126 patients with neurological impairment at the C1–3 levels were identified. Seventeen patients had acute closed odontoid fractures with neurological deficit. Various parameters including demographics, mechanisms of injury, associated injuries, fracture types/displacements, and radiographic cervical canal dimensions were compared between “complete” and “incomplete” spinal cord injured–patients as well as with neurologically intact patients who had suffered odontoid fractures. There were similar demographics, mechanisms of injury, associated injuries, fracture type/displacement, and canal dimensions in patients with complete and incomplete SCIs. However, only patients with complete injury were ventilator dependent. In comparison with patients with intact spinal cords, spinal cord–injured patients were more commonly males (p = 0.011) who had sustained higher velocity injuries (p = 0.027). The computerized tomography scans of 11 of 17 neurologically impaired patients were compared with those of a random sample of 11 patients with intact spinal cords. Although the anteroposterior diameter (p = 0.028) and cross-sectional area (p = 0.0004) of the cervical spinal canal at the C–2 level were smaller in impaired patients, the displacement of the fragment was not different. Conclusions Odontoid fractures are an infrequent cause of SCI. Patients with these injuries typically are males who have smaller spinal canals and have sustained high velocity injuries.


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