Spinal cord syndromes

Background

Anatomy

Spinal cord tracts

• Dorsal columns
  • Proprioception, vibration
  • Decussation at medulla
• Corticospinal Tract
  • Voluntary motor
    • Upper extremity fibers more central, lower extremity fibers more lateral
  • Decussation at medulla
• Spinothalamic
  • Crude touch, pressure, pain, temperature
  • Decussates 1-2 levels above entry point to spinal cord

Types

Spinal Cord Syndromes

• Complete spinal cord transection syndrome
• Anterior cord syndrome
• Central cord syndrome
• Brown-Sequard syndrome
• Epidural compression syndromes
  • Syringomyelia
  • Spinal cord compression (non-traumatic)
  • Cauda equina syndrome
  • Conus medullaris syndrome
  • Epidural abscess (spinal)
  • Epidural hematoma (spinal)

Management

• Consider intubation injuries at C5 or above
• Consider surgical intervention for:
  • Progressive neurologic deficits
  • Unstable spine fractures
• Steroids are no longer recommended
  • Administration of methylprednisolone (MP) for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is not recommended. Clinicians considering MP therapy should bear in mind that the drug is not Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for this application. There is no Class I or Class II medical evidence supporting the clinical benefit of MP in the treatment of acute SCI. Scattered reports of Class III evidence claim inconsistent effects likely related to random chance or selection bias. However, Class I, II, and III evidence exists that high-dose steroids are associated with harmful side effects including death.
  • See EBQ:High Dose Steroids in Cord Injury for further discussion

See Also

• Spinal Cord Trauma
• Spinal Cord Levels
• Spinal cord compression (non-traumatic)
• Focal neurologic deficits

References

Authors

Ross Donaldson, Christopher Mathew, Kevin Lu, Jordan Swartz, Daniel Ostermayer