Spinal cord injuries
Spinal Cord Injuries
A Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function, such as mobility or feeling. The spinal cord does not have to be severed for a loss of functioning to occur. In fact, in most people with SCI, the spinal cord is intact, but the damage to it results in loss of functioning.
Pronunciation
Spinal Cord Injuries: /ˈspaɪnəl kɔːrd ˈɪndʒəriːz/
Etymology
The term "spinal cord injury" is derived from the Latin words "spina" meaning "thorn" or "backbone", "cordis" meaning "cord", and "injuria" meaning "injury".
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries 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; both sides of the body are equally affected.
- An incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury.
Causes
The most common causes of SCI in the world are trauma (car accident, gunshot, falls, etc.) and disease (polio, spina bifida, Friedreich's ataxia, etc.).
Related Terms
- Paraplegia: Paralysis of the legs and lower body, typically caused by spinal injury or disease.
- Quadriplegia: Also known as tetraplegia, is paralysis caused by illness or injury that results in the partial or total loss of use of all four limbs and torso.
- Neurology: The branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system, which includes the spinal cord.
See Also
This WikiMD.org article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.