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Spinal Cord Injury FAQ

1. What is the spinal cord?
   Answer: The spinal cord is part of the nervous system and measures approximately 18 inches long. It runs the length of the back, extending from the base of the brain to about the waist. The nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to the other parts of the body are called lower motor neurons (LMNs) and dorsal root sensory neurons. These spinal nerves exit and enter at each vertebral level and communicate with specific areas of the body.
   
   
2. What is a spinal cord injury?
   Answer: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the nerves within the spinal canal. Most SCI's are caused by trauma to the vertebral column, thereby affecting the spinal cord's ability to send and receive messages from the brain to the body's systems that control sensory, motor and autonomic function below the level of injury.
   
   
3. What is the difference between a complete and incomplete injury?
   Answer: There are two classifications for SCI?s ? complete and incomplete. In a complete injury, nerve damage obstructs every signal coming from the brain to the body parts below the injury. In an incomplete injury, some residual motor and sensory function remains below the level of SCI.
   
   
4. What are the vertebrae?
   Answer: The rings of bone that make up the spinal column are known as vertebrae. The vertebrae are named according to their location on the spinal column and are called the Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar and Sacral vertebrae.
   
   The seven vertebrae in the neck are the Cervical Vertebrae. SCI at cervical levels usually causes a loss of independent breathing and loss of function to the arms and legs, thereby resulting in quadriplegia.
   
   The twelve vertebrae in the chest are called the Thoracic Vertebrae. Thoracic level injuries usually affect the chest and the legs and result in paraplegia.
   
   The five vertebrae in the lower back are known as the Lumbar Vertebrae. Lumbar level injury typically results in loss of control of the legs, bladder, bowel and sexual functions.
   
   The Sacral Vertebrae are the five vertebrae that run from the pelvis to the end of the spinal column. Sacral level injuries generally damage the nerves emanating from the distal spinal cord conus and typically cause lower motor neuron flaccid paralysis type lesions involving some loss of function in the legs and difficulty with bowel, bladder and sexual control.
   
   
5. How common are spinal cord injuries?
   Answer: Approximately 450,000 people in the United States have sustained traumatic spinal cord injuries, with more than 10,000 new cases of SCI emerging in the U.S. every year. Males account for 82 percent of all SCI's and females for 18 percent.
   
   
6. What are the leading causes of traumatic spinal cord injuries?
   Answer: Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of SCI (44 percent), followed by acts of violence (24 percent), falls (22 percent), sports injuries (8 percent), and other causes (2 percent).
   
   
7. What are the signs of a spinal cord injury?
   • Extreme pain or pressure in the neck, head or back
   • Tingling or loss of sensation in the hand, fingers, feet, or toes
   • Partial or complete loss of control over any part of the body
   • Urinary or bowel urgency, incontinence, or retention
   • Difficulty with balance and walking
   • Abnormal band-like sensations in the thorax- pain, pressure
   • mpaired breathing after injury
   • Unusual lumps on the head or spine
   
   
8. What is the survival rate for spinal cord injury victims?
   Answer: Overall, 85 percent of SCI patients who survive the first 24 hours following injury are alive 10 years later.
   
   
9. What treatments are available for spinal cord injuries?
   Answer: Currently, there is no cure for spinal cord injuries. However, ongoing research to test surgical and drug therapies is progressing more rapidly than ever before. Injury progression prevention drug treatments, decompression surgery, nerve cell transplantation, nerve regeneration, and complex drug therapies are all being examined as a means to overcome the effects of spinal cord injury.
   
   

1. Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation Web site: www.apacure.com
2. National Spinal Cord Injury Association Web site: www.spinalcord.org
3. Restorative Treatment and Research Program at Washington University Web site: www.neuro.wustl.edu/sci/
4. National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (at University of Alabama -- Birmingham) Web site: www.spinalcord.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=24480
5. Spinal Cord Injury Support Network Web site: www.brainlink.com/~phil/