SPINAL CORD INJURY

By: Jean Collado

About The Spinal Cord The spinal cord is about 18 inches long and

extends from the base of the brain, down the middle of the back, to about the waist.

The nerves that lie within the spinal cord are upper motor neurons and their function is to carry the messages back and forth from the brain to the spinal nerves along the spinal tract.

The spinal nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to the other parts of the body are called lower motor neurons.

There are two portions of the lower motor neurons The Sensory portion and the Motor portion

About The Spinal Cord The spinal cord is the major bundle of nerves

that carry nerve impulses to and from the brain to the rest of the body. The brain and the spinal cord constitute the Central

Nervous System. Motor and sensory nerves outside the central

nervous system constitute the Peripheral Nervous System.

As well as Sympathetic and Parasympathetic systems which , are another diffuse system of nerves that control involuntary functions such as blood pressure and temperature regulation .

The Vertebra The vertebral column is made up of 26 bones that provide axial support to the trunk.

The vertebral column provides protection to the spinal cord, which runs through its central cavity.

Between each vertebra is an intervertebral disk, which acts as a shock absorber.

In general, the higher in the spinal column the injury occurs, the more dysfunction a person will experience.

The Vertebra

The eight vertebra in the neck are called the Cervical Vertebra. The top vertebra is called C-1, the next is C-2, etc. And same concept with all the others

The twelve vertebra in the chest are called the Thoracic Vertebra. The first thoracic vertebra, T-1, is the vertebra where the top rib attaches.

The vertebra in the lower back between the thoracic vertebra, where the ribs attach, and the pelvis (hip bone), are the Lumbar Vertebra.

The sacral vertebra run from the Pelvis to the end of the spinal column.

Injuries The level of injury is very helpful

in predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function.

Injury to the Cervical region usually cause loss of function in the arms, hands, head ( breathing)

Injuries in the Thoracic region usually affect the chest, muscle control,

Injuries to the five Lumbar vertebra damages leg muscles and hips

Injury to the Sacral region generally result in some loss of sensation and dysfunction in bowel and bladder

the higher the injury the more dysfunction you’ll be

Injuries

SCI can be divided into two types of injury -complete and incomplete.

A complete injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury; no sensation and no voluntary movement

An incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury. A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb

How Many People Have a SCI Approximately 450,000 people live with SCI in the US.

There are about 10,000 new SCI's every year

The majority of them (82%) involve males between the ages of 16-30.

These injuries result from motor vehicle accidents (36%), violence (28.9%), or falls (21.2%).    

When to contact a doctor Call your health care provider if injury to

the back or neck occurs. Call 911 if there is any loss of movement or sensation. This is a medical emergency!

Management of spinal cord injury begins at the site of an accident with paramedics trained in immobilizing the injured spine to prevent further damage to the nervous system.

Someone suspected of having a spinal cord injury should NOT be moved without immobilization unless there is an immediate threat.

Works Cited

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Spinal+cord+trauma

http://www.spinalcord.org/ http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spi

nal-cord-injury/DS00460

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wieRY4SL2BU&feature=PlayList&p=69CEC699C8BDCC5C&index=62

On the treatment of an injury