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In this episode, Dr. Michael Powers explores spinal cord injury (SCI). Although SCI has a relatively low prevalence and incidence, it is a high impact condition which carries not only significant functional cost but also tremendous financial cost. Dr. Powers highlights the importance of key ascending and descending spinal cord tracts both for recognizing common clinical SCI syndromes and for examining individuals with SCI to determine neurologic level of injury. He discusses the importance of determining neurologic level of injury, and how combining neurologic level of injury with ASIA Impairment Scale provides physical therapists with critical information to establish diagnosis, prognosis, and plan of care.

Key Takeaways

• Incidence and prevalence of SCI
• Cost of SCI, including consideration of lost wages/productivity
• The 3 most important SCI tracts to know
• The 4 most common SCI clinical syndromes
• The ISNCSCI and ASIA exam
• What information is (and isn't) conveyed by the neurologic level of injury
• What information is (and isn't) conveyed by the ASIA Impairment Scale
• Why both neurologic level of injury and ASIA Impairment Scale are needed to determine diagnosis, prognosis, and plan of care

Go Deeper With Your Learning

• Dr. Powers works through a patient case to determine neurologic level of injury and ASIA Impairment Scale (YouTube)

References

• O'Sullivan & Schmitz's Physical Rehabilitation
• SCI Key Data
• Costs of Living with SCI
• International Standards for Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury
• ISNCSCI Worksheets
• Common Errors Made During ISNCSCI Exam (YouTube)

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