View source for Disabled Village Children:Chapter 23: Spinal Cord Injury

{{bctrail|segments=2|chaptitle=Chapter 23: Spinal Cord Injury}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Chapter 23: Spinal Cord Injury}}
{{SideSupplement|bookabbreviation=dvc|pagealt=is from page 175 of|chapterpdf=http://hesperian.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/en_dvc_2023/en_dvc_2023_23.pdf|bookurl=Disabled Village Children|booktitle=Disabled Village Children}}
{{chaptertoc|In this chapter:|
 <ul class{{=}}"noprint">
<li>[[Disabled Village Children:Chapter 23: Spinal Cord Injury|Chapter 23: Spinal Cord Injury]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Early Questions That a Spinal Cord Injured Child and Family May Ask|Early Questions That a Spinal Cord Injured Child and Family May Ask]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Helping the Child and Family Adjust|Helping the Child and Family Adjust]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:How to Prevent More Severe Spinal Cord Injury in Case of Accident|How to Prevent More Severe Spinal Cord Injury in Case of Accident]]</li>
     <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Early Care for the Spinal Cord Injured Person|Early Care for People with Spinal Cord Injuries]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Physical Therapy Following Spinal Cord Injury|Rehabilitation Therapy Following Spinal Cord Injury]]</li>
<li>[[Disabled Village Children:Maintaining Healthy Positions|Maintaining Healthy Positions]]</li>
<li>[[Disabled Village Children:Early Physical Re-education|Early Physical Re-education]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Dysreflexia (Sudden High Blood Pressure with Pounding Headaches)|Dysreflexia (Sudden High Blood Pressure with Pounding Headaches)]]</li>
 <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Self Care|Self Care]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Keeping Active|Keeping Active]]</li>
    <li>[[Disabled Village Children:Other Parts of This Book with Information Useful For Spinal Cord Injury|Other Parts of This Book with Information Useful For Spinal Cord Injury]]</li>
<li>[[Disabled Village Children:The Story of Jésica|The Story of Jésica]]</li>
 </ul>
}}
Spinal cord injury usually results from an accident that breaks or severely injures the central nerve cord in the neck or back: falls from trees or mules, automobile accidents, diving accidents, bullet wounds, and other injuries. Spinal cord injury is more common in adults and older children—and in many cultures it is twice as common in men as in women.

The [[Disabled_Village_Children:Examining_The_Nervous_System|spinal cord]] is the line of nerves that comes out of the brain and runs down the backbone. From the cord, nerves go out to the whole body. Feeling and movement are controlled by messages that travel back and forth to the brain through the spinal cord. When the cord is injured, feeling and movement in the body below the level of the injury are lost or reduced. 

====Level of the injury====

How much of the body is affected depends on the level of the injury along the backbone. The higher the injury is, the greater the area of the body that is affected.


<div class=speechbub style="position: relative; width: 315px; height:300px;margin-left:20px; ">
[[Image:DVC_Ch23_Page_175-1.png|175px|center|alt=parts of the backbone and level of injury]]
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: 158px; top: -22px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">brain</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: -10px; top: 10px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">'''The backbone consists of''':</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: -10px; top: 55px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">7 neck bones (cervical vertebrae)</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: -10px; top: 115px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">12 upper back bones (thoracic vertebrae)</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: -10px; top: 175px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">5 lower back bones (lumbar vertebrae)</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: -10px; top: 240px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">5 joined sacral vertebrae</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: -10px; top: 293px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">tailbones</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: 245px; top: 25px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">Spinal cord injury of the neck causes QUADRIPLEGIA.</div>
<div style="position: absolute; width:115px; left: 245px; top: 190px;text-align:left; font-style:normal;">Spinal cord injury of the back causes PARAPLEGIA.</div>
</div>




<table cellpadding="10">
<tr>
<td>[[Image:DVC_Ch23_Page_175-2.png|50px|left]]</td>
<td>'''Quadriplegia''':<br>
*loss of controlled movement and feeling from the neck or chest down—and to some extent the arms and hands<br>
<div style="position: relative; width: 200px; height:100px; float:right;">[[Image:DVC_Ch23_Page_175-3.png|125px|left]]</div>
*affects urine and bowel control<br>
*paralysis of chest muscles affects breathing.<br>
*reduced sweating and temperature control<br>
</td>
</tr>
</table>


<table cellpadding="10">
<tr>
<td>[[Image:DVC_Ch23_Page_175-4.png|50px|left]]</td>
<td>'''Paraplegia''':<br>
<div style="position: relative; width: 200px; height:140px; float:right;">[[Image:DVC_Ch23_Page_175-5.png|115px|center]]</div>
*loss of controlled movement and feeling in the legs<br>
*hips and part of trunk may be affected (the higher the injury the more is affected).<br>
*may have partial or complete loss of urine and bowel control
*may have spasticity (muscle spasms) or be floppy in legs<br>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

====Complete and incomplete injuries====

When the spinal cord is injured so completely that no nerve messages get through, the injury is said to be “complete.” Feeling and controlled movement below the level of the injury are completely and permanently lost. If the injury is “incomplete,” some feeling and movement may remain. Or feeling and controlled movement may return (partly or entirely) little by little during several months. In incomplete injuries, one side may have less feeling and movement than the other. 

X-rays often do not show how complete a spinal cord injury is. Sometimes the backbone may be badly broken, yet the spinal cord injury may be minor. And sometimes (especially in children) the X-ray may show no injury to the backbone, yet the spinal cord injury may be severe or complete. Often, only time will tell how complete the injury is. 





{{Previous and next sections|Prevention of Pressure Sores and Injuries|Early Questions That a Spinal Cord Injured Child and Family May Ask}}

[[es:Disabled_Village_Children:Capítulo_23:_Daño_de_la_médula_espinal]]
[[en:Disabled_Village_Children:Chapter_23:_Spinal_Cord_Injury]]
[[ru:Disabled_Village_Children:ГЛАВА_23:_Повреждение_спинного_мозга]]

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[[Category:parts and systems of the body]]
[[Category:physical injury]]