How We Meet Your Mobility Needs
What is a Spinal Cord Injury?
A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function, such movement and/or feeling. The common causes are injury and accidents, or from such diseases as polio, spina bifida, Friedreich’s ataxia, and so on. The spinal cord does not have to be severed for a loss of function to occur. In fact, in most people with spinal cord injury, the cord is intact, but the damage to it results in loss of function. Spinal cord injury is very different from back injuries, such as ruptured disks, spinal stenosis or pinched nerves. The spinal cord is a collection of nerves that travels from the bottom of the brain down your back. There are 31 pairs of nerves that leave the spinal cord and go to your arms, legs, chest and abdomen. These nerves allow your brain to give commands to your muscles and cause movements of your arms and legs. The nerves that control your arms exit from the upper portion of the spinal cord, while the nerves to your legs exit from the lower portion of the spinal cord. The nerves also control the function of your organs including your heart, lungs, bowels, and bladder. For example, signals from the spinal cord control how fast your heart beats and your rate of breathing. Injury to the spinal cord nerves can result in paralysis, affecting some or all of the aforementioned body functions. The result is a spinal cord injury. There are approximately 12,000 new cases of spinal cord injury every year in the U.S.
Address/Phone/Email
Address: 401 York Avenue, Duryea, PA 18642 Phone: 1-833-745-3835 Email: info@quantumrehab.com Privacy Policy
What are the symptoms of a Spinal Cord Injury?
The symptoms of spinal cord injury depend on where the spinal cord is injured and if the injury is complete or incomplete. In incomplete injuries, patients have some remaining function of their bodies below the level of injury, while in complete injuries they have no function below the level of injury. Injuries to the spinal cord can cause weakness or complete loss of muscle function and loss of sensation in the body below the level of injury, loss of control of the bowels and bladder, and loss of normal sexual function. Spinal cord injuries in the upper neck can cause difficulty breathing and may require the use of a breathing machine, or ventilator.
How is a Spinal Cord Injury Diagnosed?
The physical examination includes x-rays of the neck or back, computed tomography (CT) scan and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, that is another more advanced imaging study that can identify a spinal cord injury. The MRI is better at evaluating the soft tissues including the ligaments, intervertebral discs, nerves and spinal cord. The MRI scan also can show evidence of injury within the spinal cord. Most with spinal cord injuries have immediate symptoms that include the loss of physical sensation and voluntary movement.
Levels of Spinal Cord injury
SCI can be divided into two main types of injury. Complete injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury—neither sensation or movement—and both sides of the body are equally affected. Complete injuries can happen at any level of the spinal cord. Incomplete injury means that there is some function below the level of the injury—movement in one limb more than the other, feeling in parts of the body, or more function on one side of the body than the other. Incomplete injuries can happen at any level of the spinal cord.
| C2-C3 | Usually fatal as a result of inability to breathe | Totally dependent for all care |
| C4 | Quadriplegia and breathing difficulty | Dependent for all care; usually needs a ventilator |
| C5 | Quadriplegia with some shoulder and elbow function | May be able to feed self using assistive devices; usually can breathe without a ventilator, but may need other types of respiratory support |
| C6 | Quadriplegia with shoulder, elbow, and some wrist function | May be able to propel a wheelchair inside on smooth surfaces; may be able to help feed, groom, and dress self; dependent on others for transfers |
| C7 | Quadriplegia with shoulder, elbow, wrist, and some hand function | May be able to propel a wheelchair outside, transfer self, and drive a car with special adaptions; may be able to help with bowel and bladder programs |
| C8 | Quadriplegia with normal arm function; hand weakness | May be able to propel a wheelchair outside, transfer self, and drive a car with special adaptions; may be able to help with bowel and bladder programs |
| T1-T6 | Paraplegia with loss of function below mid-chest; full control of arms | Independent with self-care and in wheelchair; able to be employed full time |
| T6-T12 | Paraplegia with loss of function below the waist; good control of torso | Good sitting balance; greater ability for operation of a wheelchair and athletic activities |
| L1-L5 | Paraplegia with varying degrees of muscle involvement in the legs | May be able to walk short distances with braces and assistive devices |
How is Spinal Cord Injury Treated?
Initially, efforts are made to stabilize the patient and reduce swelling around the injury. In the long term, rehabilitation, therapies, and medications can help maximize function within the limitations of the injury.
Prognosis for Spinal Cord Injury
When a spinal cord injury occurs, there is usually swelling of the spinal cord. This may cause changes in virtually every system in the body. After days or weeks, the swelling begins to go down, and people may regain some functioning. With many injuries, especially incomplete ones, the individual may recover some function as late as 18 months after the injury. In very rare cases, people with spinal cord injury will regain some functioning years after the injury. However, only a small fraction of individuals sustaining a spinal cord injury recover all function. Long-term data collected by the Shepherd Center and the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems (SCIMS) show an increase in life expectancy for people who have lived 25 years or more with spinal cord injury. The survival rate at 25 or more years after injury is 60 percent; this number has been climbing steadily over the years. In addition, many of the leading indicators show the quality of that extended life expectancy is good.
Mobility for Those with Spinal Cord Injury
Many with severe spinal cord injuries require the use of a specialized power wheelchair. Quantum Rehab®, the global leader in individualized power chairs, puts an emphasis on mobility technologies specific toward the needs of those with spinal cord injuries.
Quantum Power Chairs incorporate power-adjustable seating for user repositioning and comfort; specialty drive controls, including those requiring minimal hand strength; and, a highly-adaptable design to meet an individual’s current and future needs.
Quantum Power Chairs feature the latest advanced technologies to increase the independence of those living with spinal cord injuries. iLevel® seat elevation technology allows a user to operate the power chair at seated or standing height. Bluetooth® is also integrated into Quantum’s Q-Logic 3 electronics, so those with spinal cord injuries can operate much of their environment with the power chair drive control, itself.
For those with spinal cord injuries, Quantum Power Chairs are designed to provide optimal medical comfort and maximum independence. Please click here for more information on Quantum Power Chair solutions for those living with spinal cord injuries.
The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Quantum Rehab is under license. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.