scholarly journals Evaluation and prognosis of spinal cord injury

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 596-602
Author(s):  
Jeehyun Yoo

It is important to perform an accurate neurological assessment using the International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) to judge the prognosis of spinal cord injury patients. We can gauge the prognosis for upper extremity function or gait ability according to the ISNCSCI results. ISNCSCI involves both sensory and motor examination, and it is performed with the patient in the supine position to enable a comparison between the initial and follow-up exams. The sensory exam is performed on the 28 key sensory points of dermatomes for light touch and pinprick. The motor exam is performed on 10 key muscles on each side. The sensory and motor levels for the right and left sides are determined according to the sensory and motor exam results. The neurological level of injury is the most caudal level of the cord at which both the motor and sensory functions are intact. Finally, the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) is determined. AIS A indicates complete injury, and AIS B, C, and D indicate incomplete injuries. Once the sensory and motor levels, neurological level of injury, and AIS scale of a spinal cord injury patient are determined through ISNCSCI, the patient's prognosis can be predicted based on those results. Furthermore, ISNCSCI performed at 72 hours after an injury yields the most significant prognostic factors.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-105
Author(s):  
Naifeng Kuang ◽  
Xiaoyu Wang ◽  
Yuexia Chen ◽  
Guifeng Liu ◽  
Fan’e Kong ◽  
...  

Spinal cord injury is a serious disabling condition. Transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) is one of the most promising treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI). Thirty-nine patients with chronic SCI received OEC transplantation and completed long-term follow-up, with a minimum follow-up of 7 years. We assessed sensorimotor function with the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) and autonomic nervous function by the International Standards to document remaining Autonomic Function after Spinal Cord Injury (ISAFSCI), and sympathetic skin responses (SSR). The scores of each group were significantly higher after OECs transplantation than before treatment. SSR latencies were shorter and response amplitudes increased after treatment. Long-term follow-up showed further improvement only in motor function and autonomic function compared with 3 months postoperatively. No complications occurred in any patient during long-term follow-up. The results indicate that the transplantation of OECs in spinal cord restored function without serious side effects.


Author(s):  
Erek Öztürk ◽  
Yener Akyuva ◽  
Erdinç Çivelek

Creating a common language allows information to be shared well/wholesome/healthily. Classifications have a important role in the formation of this language, which provides many benefits such as follow-up of the clinical course. Classifications in spinal cord injuries are based on examination, so the results of different treatments can be revealed more clearly with a standardized examination and registration. The International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury (ISNCSCI) which is the most sensitive and common classification was developed by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS), although its foundations were laid in 1969 by Frankel. Apart from neurological evaluation, there are scales such as Functional Independence Scale, Modified Barthel Index, Spinal Cord Independence Scale, Quadriplegia Functional Index, Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury, Spinal Cord Injury Functional Ambulation Inventory to determine the functional status in spinal cord injuries. Additionally scales such as Assessment of Spinal Cord Injury Basic Pain Data Set, Multidimensional Pain Inventory, DN4 (DouleurNeuropathique DN4) can be used for pain assessment in a patient with spinal cord injury.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Mochamad Targib Alatas

Early surgical treatment for traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients has been proven to yield better improvement on neurological state, and widely practiced among surgeons in this field. However, it is not always affordable in every clinical setting. It is undeniable that surgery for chronic SCI has more challenges as the malunion of vertebral bones might have initiated, thus requires more complex operating techniques. In this case series, we report 7 patients with traumatic SCI whose surgical intervention is delayed due to several reasons. Initial motoric scores vary from 0 to 3, all have their interval periods supervised between outpatient clinic visits. On follow up they demonstrate significant neurological development defined by at least 2 grades motoric score improvement. Physical rehabilitation also began before surgery was conducted. These results should encourage surgeons to keep striving for the patient’s best interest, even when the injury has taken place weeks or even months before surgery is feasible because clinical improvement for these patients is not impossible. 


Spinal Cord ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Vaidyanathan ◽  
R Parry ◽  
BM Soni ◽  
G Singh ◽  
P Sett

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1663-1669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subramanian Vaidyanathan ◽  
Bakul M. Soni ◽  
Peter L. Hughes ◽  
Gupreet Singh

The Memokath stent has been used in spinal cord injury patients as a reversible alternative to external urethral sphincterotomy, but the stent has a finite lifetime of <2 years before failure in the majority of patients. We report an unusual case of a spinal cord injury patient in whom memokath stent was functioning for almost 14 years. The long life span of the Memokath in this patient was probably due to this person's habit of drinking around 5 l of fluids a day. Large fluid intake resulted in high urine output and, consequently, deceased the risk of urine infections and delayed formation of encrustations around the stent. Although this case represents an unusual length of time for a Memokath stent to have been in place and functioning, caution should be exercised against the long-term use of Memokath stents. Memokath stents do not get absorbed into the mucosa unlike urolume stents and, therefore, are prone to stone formation. Further, Memokath stents have not yet been approved in the U.S. either for bladder outlet obstruction or detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia. This case is also a reminder to health professionals that if a tetraplegic patient, in whom a Memokath stent has been deployed for treatment of detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia, presents with autonomic dysreflexia, encrustations blocking the lumen of the stent or calculus formation around the stent should be considered as possible reasons for autonomic dysreflexia.


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