Reducing intrathecal pressure after traumatic spinal cord injury： a potential clinical target to promote tissue survival

Spinal cord injury （SCI） is an unexpected event that is both devastating and debilitating, resulting in not just motor and sensory loss, but also autonomic dysfunction of the bladder, bowel and sexual organs. Currently, there are no treatments available to improve outcome follow- ing SCI, leaving individuals with permanent and lifelong physical disability. Worldwide it is estimated that more than 500,000 people sustain a SCI each year, with average lifetime cost of paraplegia and quadriplegia estimated at $5 million and $9.5 million respectively. We therefore urgently need effective therapies to improve quality of life following SCI, and this requires a greater understanding of how cell and axonal injury develops after the traumatic event.