What Is Spinal Cord Injury and Its Treatment?
This article explores spinal cord injury and treatment options in detail. Health related to the spine and spinal cord is the foundation of an active, happy and peaceful life. Thus, knowing about spinal cord injuries and treatment options will definitely enrich life in multiple ways.
The Spine & The Spinal Cord
The spine is the most crucial part of the human body. It helps keep us upright. Without it, no human being would be able to sit and stand straight. Apart from this ability, the spine also protects the spinal cord.
Talking about its anatomical structure, the spine is a column of small bones called vertebrae. This column is hollow inside, a long near-vertical cavity, which is also known as a spinal cavity. Inside this cavity is the spinal cord, enclosed and suspended in spinal fluid.
The spinal cord is a cylindrical bundle of nerve tissues. This cord plays a crucial role in facilitating communication between the brain and the rest of the body. The brain and the spinal cord both together are named the central nervous system.
An injury to this critical cord is called a spinal cord injury, which can lead to devastating health complications without prompt medical attention. The causes of injury are discussed below.
Are you looking for the best doctor? Refer to the following link: spine specialist doctor in Delhi.
Causes
The spinal cord can get injured due to traumatic or non-traumatic causes.
A traumatic cause means harmful external force, for example, intense blows, accidents, falls, hits, violence etc. For non-traumatic causes, they happen internally and injure the spinal cord, for example, tumours, infections, inflammation, arthritis, disc degeneration etc.
Furthermore, a spinal cord injury can also be categorised as either primary or secondary. To understand it better, consider the following scenario.
As people age, the water content in a spinal disc reduces and thus it shrinks in size. In other words, aging dehydrates a spinal disc.
A dehydrated disc becomes more prone to herniation or damage. If a disc becomes herniated, it impinges on the nearby nerve roots, which can injure the spinal cord. If the treatment isn’t provided on time, it can lead to permanent disabilities. This is an example of a secondary spinal cord injury as a complication of the herniated disc.
Primary injuries in the spinal cord often occur due to a traumatic cause.
Symptoms
Symptoms or how a spinal cord injury affects you depends on the location and severity. These are two crucial aspects to consider in every spinal cord injury.
Location:The spinal cord runs from the head to the bottom of the waist in the spinal cavity. However, this is just a simple view. In reality, the spinal cord is also branched at each vertebral level.
Each vertebra has small cavities on either side—the spinal cord branches out to other parts of the body through these openings (cavities).
The entire spine is categorised into the following major parts, namely,
- Cervical Spine (The Neck Area)
- Thoracic Spine (Upper-Middle Back )
- Lumbar Spine (Lower Back)
- Sacral Spine (The Above Part Of Tailbone)
There are 7 vertebrae from C1 to C7 in the neck or the cervical spine. Similarly, Thoracic Spine is made up of 12 vertebral units, known as T1 to T12. For Lumbar Spine, there are 5 vertebrae, denoted by L1-L5. Finally, vertebrae in the sacral spine are also 5 in number and are known as S1 to S5.
Each vertebra has nerve roots branching out of its side openings to all the body parts.
If the spinal cord at the cervical level is damaged, it will affect the rest of the body down the neck or the site of injury. Likewise, if the injury is at the thoracic level, it will affect every part of the body down to the site of injury.
Thus, the location is a crucial consideration in spinal cord injury. The site of injury in the spine decides which part of the body will be affected.
Severity: Another thing is how bad the injury is. An injury can cause either the complete loss of movement and sensations or just some of them.
If a spinal cord injury is in the neck and the affected person cannot move any of their body parts down the neck, the injury is complete. Furthermore, if they can move their body just a little bit, the injury is incomplete.
Based on these two considerations (location and severity), the affected person will have the following symptoms.
- Movement loss
- Partial or complete loss of sensation
- Problems in bowel or bladder control
- Uncontrolled muscle contractions
- Trouble in breathing
- Intense stinging sensation
Paralysis:Based on the location of a spinal injury, there are two types of paralysis. Loss of sensations and ability to control movement from the neck to the rest of the body below, including both arms and shoulders is called quadriplegia;it is a very severe type of paralysis.
If the injury only affects the lower half of the body, it is called paraplegia.
Thus, if you have had an injury in the neck, don’t ignore or suppress the pain merely by taking painkillers. Consult a spine specialist as soon as possible. Not ensuring immediate medical care can lead to conditions of paralysis later in life.
Diagnosis
There are various ways a doctor can examine a spinal injury.
Questions & Physical Examinations: The doctor will ask questions about the cause of injury, such as if you have had an accident, etc. The doctor will try to evaluate the degree of loss of sensations and movements through physical assessments and techniques.
X-rays:This test uses X-rays to produce images of the bony parts of the body. An X-ray test can help learn about the internal conditions related to the spinal bones, which are called vertebrae. Vertebral fractures are major causes of most of the spinal cord injuries during traumatic events.
MRIs: An MRI test relies on a magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed 2-D images of bones and soft tissues. This test can help diagnose the extent of spinal cord injury.
CT Scans: Like an MRI, a CT scan also helps examine the internal conditions of the bone and soft-tissue parts of the spine.
Treatment
There are two types of spinal cord injuries based on the nature of the origin. If it is caused by a traumatic event, it is called a trauma-related spinal cord injury and otherwise, non-trauma-related spinal cord injury.
Based on this distinction, treatment differs.
The doctor can treat a traumatic spinal cord injury by methods like medications, immobilisation, and surgery.
Medicationshelp with swelling, inflammation, pain and other symptoms.
Immobilisationis usually achieved through traction techniques (keeping the spine immobile in one place) and support devices like splints, braces, etc, (to stabilise the injured part while the affected person is being moved).
Surgeryis performed basically to relieve compressed nerves and repair damage to the surrounding structures.
If the spinal cord injury has originated from a non-traumatic cause like compression fractures due to osteoporosis, degenerative disc disease, tumours, infection, etc., the medical approach to treatment differs.
In that case, the doctor mostly focuses on preventing the injury from becoming worse and improving the quality of life with available therapies like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, mental therapies, in-home care and support.
Treatment length depends on the extent of the injury and other factors. It is crucial to receive treatment from a medical professional no matter how long it takes and how slow the situation improves or recovery seems.
To connect with the best specialists, visit the following link: top 5 orthopedic doctors in India.
Conclusion
The spine has several life-sustaining functions, including providing protection to the spinal cord. This cord facilitates communication between the brain and the rest of the body, which is also known as the central nervous system.
Thus, injuries related to the spinal cord can lead to life-threatening consequences like complete paralysis and even death in the presence of extreme complications.
Spinal cord injuries caused by trauma are a matter of medical emergency. Here, the entire focus of healthcare professionals remains on preventing the injury from becoming worse. This can be achieved through immobilisation techniques and surgical interventions.
Alongside, medications and therapies are also used to work on symptoms and improve the overall quality of life. Mental health therapies might also be part of rehabilitation programmes, to help the person transition into living life with permanent disabilities with a positive outlook.