Catecholamine-induced hypertension in lumbosacral paraplegia: five case reports.

Hypertension in the patient with SCI is relatively rare and generally restricted to patients with high-level injuries where autonomic dysreflexia can occur. Resting blood pressure in individuals with SCI has been described as lower than that in the normal population. This report describes five previously normotensive teenagers with subsequent paraplegia as a result of gunshot wounds who presented with hypertension secondary to idiopathic elevation of plasma or urinary catecholamine levels.

Cough in spinal cord injured patients: the relationship between motor level and peak expiratory flow.

Pulmonary complications remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with higher level spinal cord injury. Neurologically intact individuals can cough in order to clear their air passage of lung secretions and foreign material. Patients with higher level cord injuries, with paralysis of the trunk and abdominal muscles, may not have the ability to generate an effective cough.

Spinal cord injury rehabilitation. 5. Through the lifespan.

This self-directed learning module highlights new advances in this topic area. It is part of the chapter on spinal cord injury rehabilitation in the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation. This section explores the medical, psychologic, and social challenges facing an individual with an acquired spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury rehabilitation. 2. Medical complications.

This self-directed learning module highlights new advances in understanding medical complications of spinal cord injury through the lifespan. It is part of the chapter on spinal cord injury rehabilitation in the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation. This article covers reasons for transferring patients to specialized spinal cord injury centers once they have been stabilized, and the management of common medical problems, including fever, autonomic dysreflexia, urinary tract infection, acute and chronic abdominal complications, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary complications, and heterotopic ossification.

Spinal cord injury rehabilitation. 1. Assessment and management during acute care.

This self-directed learning module highlights new advances in this topic area. It is part of the chapter on spinal cord injury rehabilitation for the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation. This section contains information about initial care after injury, injury classification, injury description, prevention of complications, and prognosis.