Spinal Cord Trauma and Related Diseases eMedicine Neurology

Description: Spinal cord disease can result from diverse pathologic processes including trauma. Irrespective of the pathogenesis, it can lead to significant impairment of motor, sensory, or autonomic function. This review focuses on the clinical description of common patterns of spinal cord involvement. Considerable differences exist in terms of clinical complications after traumatic and nontraumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). In this article, the general principles of management of traumatic SCI are emphasized.
Synonyms and related keywords: spinal cord disease, spinal cord injury, SCI, complete spinal cord transection syndrome, anterior cord syndrome, central cord syndrome, Brown-Séquard syndrome, cauda equina syndrome, conus medullaris syndrome, Horner syndrome, traumatic spinal cord injury, nontraumatic spinal cord injury, direct compression, ischemia
Francisco de Assis Aquino Gondim, MD, MSc, PhD, & Florian P Thomas, MD, MA, PhD, Drmed 2008