Spinal Cord Injury Report
Spinal Cord Injury Report: Complete Paraplegia of Frances F.
Introduction:
The spinal cord is an important structure for the communication between the body and the brain since it containing the spinal nerves that are in charge of the motor and sensory pathways. Therefore, a spinal cord injury (SCI) can affect the pathways of these motor and sensory signals depending on the location of the lesion (Kirshblum, Burns, Biering-Sorensen, Donovan, Graves, Jha, & Waring, 2011). A 38-year-old female patient named Frances F. suffered a SCI and became paraplegic after accidentally being shot with a rifle, leaving a gunshot wound by a bullet entering through the dorsal region of her back close to the tenth rib and leaving no exit wound. After the occurrence, the lower limbs of the patient showed no muscle contractions and she was unable to control defecation or urination.
Analysis First, the sensory neurological levels of the patient were determined by identifying the most caudal and intact dermatome using two key sensory points, light touch and pin prick (Kirshblum et …show more content…
was reported at the T8 level since it was the most caudal segment of her spinal cord with normal and intact sensory and motor functioning on both sides of her body (Kirshblum et al., 2011). The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) helped to decide whether the injury was complete of incomplete. Frances F. was reported with a complete SCI and an AIS of A, which means that the patient presents no sensory or motor functions in the sacral segments S4/5 (Kirshblum et al., 2011). The nerve that were most affected by the occurrence where the femoral nerve which innervates with the muscles of the anterior part of the thigh, and the sciatic nerve which innervates with the muscles of the posterior part of the thigh and all the muscles of the leg and foot, leaving Frances F. unable to feel or move the lower extremities of her
Introduction:
The spinal cord is an important structure for the communication between the body and the brain since it containing the spinal nerves that are in charge of the motor and sensory pathways. Therefore, a spinal cord injury (SCI) can affect the pathways of these motor and sensory signals depending on the location of the lesion (Kirshblum, Burns, Biering-Sorensen, Donovan, Graves, Jha, & Waring, 2011). A 38-year-old female patient named Frances F. suffered a SCI and became paraplegic after accidentally being shot with a rifle, leaving a gunshot wound by a bullet entering through the dorsal region of her back close to the tenth rib and leaving no exit wound. After the occurrence, the lower limbs of the patient showed no muscle contractions and she was unable to control defecation or urination.
Analysis First, the sensory neurological levels of the patient were determined by identifying the most caudal and intact dermatome using two key sensory points, light touch and pin prick (Kirshblum et …show more content…
was reported at the T8 level since it was the most caudal segment of her spinal cord with normal and intact sensory and motor functioning on both sides of her body (Kirshblum et al., 2011). The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) helped to decide whether the injury was complete of incomplete. Frances F. was reported with a complete SCI and an AIS of A, which means that the patient presents no sensory or motor functions in the sacral segments S4/5 (Kirshblum et al., 2011). The nerve that were most affected by the occurrence where the femoral nerve which innervates with the muscles of the anterior part of the thigh, and the sciatic nerve which innervates with the muscles of the posterior part of the thigh and all the muscles of the leg and foot, leaving Frances F. unable to feel or move the lower extremities of her