Autonomic hyperreflexia is a dramatic complication of injuries to the spinal cord above the sixth thoracic vertebra. Knowledge of the pathogenesis and specific treatment measures are essential to develop a rational plan of nursing intervention. At the time of the original publication, the author was director of nursing, Rehabilitation Institute of Detroit, and a member of the adjunct faculty at Wayne State University, College of Nursing. Previous to that, she had been a nurse specialist in rehabilitation with the responsibility for directing and providing a continuity of nursing care for spinal cord injured patients.