Treatment of Spinal-Cord Injury

To have an intact brain and intact sensation and function about the head, neck, and shoulders, yet to lack basic hand skills and locomotion is indeed a tragic disability. If there is also loss of bowel and bladder control, the problem seems overwhelming. Just over 50 years ago, traumatic quadriplegia was lethal in 60 to 80 percent of cases. 1 With improved medical and surgical care and effective modern rehabilitation, men and women with spinal injury now usually live. Even the bowel, bladder, and cardiovascular problems that result from spinal injury can be managed. Mortality from spinal injury dropped from 30 . . .