Pancreatitis following spinal cord injury

1977 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 917-922 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Carey ◽  
Francis C. Nance ◽  
Homer D. Kirgis ◽  
Harold F. Young ◽  
Lloyd C. Megison ◽  
...  

✓ Six cases of pancreatitis following spinal cord injury are presented. No single, etiologically accepted mechanism already postulated to cause pancreatitis can account for all the cases reported. The authors hypothesize that spinal cord disruption may produce pancreatitis by sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system imbalance resulting in over-stimulation of the sphincter of Oddi. This may lead to stasis of secretions with absorption of amylase into the systemic circulation, and structural pancreatic damage. Pancreatitis in those with cord injuries is easily overlooked because abdominal pain is usually absent and fever is usually attributed to more frequently occurring pulmonary or urinary tract infections. Recognition of this complication is important in order to decrease the morbidity and mortality that follows spinal cord damage.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1753495X2110119
Author(s):  
Katherine Robertson ◽  
Felicity Ashworth

Pregnancy in women with spinal cord injury is considered high risk because it may exacerbate many of their existing problems, including autonomic dysreflexia, spasms, decubitus ulcers, urinary tract infections and respiratory infections. Due to the relative rarity of spinal cord injury in the general obstetric population, clinicians often lack familiarity of these specific problems and the women themselves are usually more experienced in their own management than their obstetric team. However, studies have demonstrated that pregnancy outcomes are generally good with appropriate and experienced obstetric care. In this review, we examine the available literature and provide advice on pre-conception counselling and the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal management of pregnant women with spinal cord injury.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 624-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven L. Jinks ◽  
Carmen L. Dominguez ◽  
Joseph F. Antognini

Background Individuals with spinal cord injury may undergo multiple surgical procedures; however, it is not clear how spinal cord injury affects anesthetic requirements and movement force under anesthesia during both acute and chronic stages of the injury. Methods The authors determined the isoflurane minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) necessary to block movement in response to supramaximal noxious stimulation, as well as tail-flick and hind paw withdrawal latencies, before and up to 28 days after thoracic spinal transection. Tail-flick and hind paw withdrawal latencies were measured in the awake state to test for the presence of spinal shock or hyperreflexia. The authors measured limb forces elicited by noxious mechanical stimulation of a paw or the tail at 28 days after transection. Limb force experiments were also conducted in other animals that received a reversible spinal conduction block by cooling the spinal cord at the level of the eighth thoracic vertebra. Results A large decrease in MAC (to </= 40% of pretransection values) occurred after spinal transection, with partial recovery (to approximately 60% of control) at 14-28 days after transection. Awake tail-flick and hind paw withdrawal latencies were facilitated or unchanged, whereas reflex latencies under isoflurane were depressed or absent. However, at 80-90% of MAC, noxious stimulation of the hind paw elicited ipsilateral limb withdrawals in all animals. Hind limb forces were reduced (by >/= 90%) in both chronic and acute cold-block spinal animals. Conclusions The immobilizing potency of isoflurane increases substantially after spinal transection, despite the absence of a baseline motor depression, or "spinal shock." Therefore, isoflurane MAC is determined by a spinal depressant action, possibly counteracted by a supraspinal facilitatory action. The partial recovery in MAC at later time points suggests that neuronal plasticity after spinal cord injury influences anesthetic requirements.


1994 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Constantini ◽  
Wise Young

✓ Recent clinical trials have reported that methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MP) or the monosialic ganglioside GM1 improves neurological recovery in human spinal cord injury. Because GM1 may have additive or synergistic effects when used with MP, the authors compared MP, GM1, and MP+GM1 treatments in a graded rat spinal cord contusion model. Spinal cord injury was caused by dropping a rod weighing 10 gm from a height of 1.25, 2.5, or 5.0 cm onto the rat spinal cord at T-10, which had been exposed via laminectomy. The lesion volumes were quantified from spinal cord Na and K shifts at 24 hours after injury and the results were verified histologically in separate experiments. A single dose of MP (30 mg/kg), given 5 minutes after injury, reduced 24-hour spinal cord lesion volumes by 56% (p = 0.0052), 28% (p = 0.0065), and 13% (p > 0.05) in the three injury-severity groups, respectively, compared to similarly injured control groups treated with vehicle only. Methylprednisolone also prevented injury-induced hyponatremia and increased body weight loss in the spine-injured rats. When used alone, GM1 (10 to 30 mg/kg) had little or no effect on any measured variable compared to vehicle controls; when given concomitantly with MP, GM1 blocked the neuroprotective effects of MP. At a dose of 3 mg/kg, GM1 partially prevented MP-induced reductions in lesion volumes, while 10 to 30 mg/kg of GM1 completely blocked these effects of MP. The effects of MP on injury-induced hyponatremia and body weight loss were also blocked by GM1. Thus, GM1 antagonized both central and peripheral effects of MP in spine-injured rats. Until this interaction is clarified, the authors recommend that MP and GM1 not be used concomitantly to treat acute human spinal cord injury. Because GM1 modulates protein kinase activity, protein kinases inhibit lipocortins, and lipocortins mediate anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids, it is proposed that the neuroprotective effects of MP are partially due to anti-inflammatory effects and that GM1 antagonizes the effects of MP by inhibiting lipocortin. Possible beneficial effects of GM1 reported in central nervous system injury may be related to the effects on neural recovery rather than acute injury processes.


Author(s):  
Johannie Audet ◽  
Charly G. Lecomte

Tonic or phasic electrical epidural stimulation of the lumbosacral region of the spinal cord facilitates locomotion and standing in a variety of preclinical models with severe spinal cord injury. However, the mechanisms of epidural electrical stimulation that facilitate sensorimotor functions remain largely unknown. This review aims to address how epidural electrical stimulation interacts with spinal sensorimotor circuits and discusses the limitations that currently restrict the clinical implementation of this promising therapeutic approach.


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