Central cord syndrome: functional outcome after rehabilitation

Abstract

Seventy-three spinal cord injured patients with central cord syndrome who had undergone inpatient rehabilitation, were studied retrospectively with regard to their demographic, neurologic and functional characteristics. There were 67 males and six females with a mean age of 53.5 years. Falls was the commonest mechanism of injury (54.8%) followed by motor vehicle accidents. Eleven patients sustained cervical fractures and 41 had radiological evidence of cervical spondylosis. Seventeen patients had sensory impairment and signi®cant spasticity was present in 14 patients. Signi®cant improvements in the admission/discharge ASIA motor scores and Modi®ed Barthel Index (MBI) scores (P50.001) were noted after rehabilitation. Ninety-two percent of patients were continent of bladder on discharge compared to 64.4% on admission. Multiple regression analysis revealed three factors associated with a better functional outcome, namely, higher admission MBI scores, absence of spasticity and younger age (P50.05).

Diagnostic criteria of traumatic central cord syndrome. Part 3: Descriptive analyses of neurological and functional outcomes in a prospective cohort of traumatic motor incomplete tetraplegics

“…2,3 It has been hypothesized that TCCS patients have a favorable recovery pattern compared with other motor incomplete tetraplegics. [4][5][6][7] Although several studies have compared TCCS with other spinal cord injury syndromes, such as the Brown-Séquard Syndrome, 4,8,9 no study has compared the neurological and functional recovery between TCCS and other motor incomplete tetraplegic patients. The assumed superior recovery of TCCS patients has also been expressed by an international panel of spinal cord injury (SCI) experts convened by the International Campaign for Cures of Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis.…”

Diagnostic criteria of traumatic central cord syndrome. Part 1: A systematic review of clinical descriptors and scores

“…Out of the 30 retrieved studies, nine studies 5,6,10,[15][16][17]21,25,26 that reported the UEMS and LEMS at admission were included in our analysis. In two articles, 6,21 a scatter diagram 6 and a bar graph 21 were used to determine the UEMS and LEMS.…”

“…2,3 In TCCS patients, recovery of a certain degree of ambulation, participation in daily life activities, bowel and bladder function has been reported to be favorable in several studies. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] TCCS also occurs frequently in elderly subjects due to rather minor spine trauma (hyperextension injury) based on underlying cervical spondylosis. The pathophysiological mechanisms inducing the TCCS are probably multimodal.…”

Effect of age on bowel management in traumatic central cord syndrome

“…9 Persons with TCCS show some recovery of at least certain degree of ambulation, participation in daily life activities and bowel and bladder function. 1,2,[5][6][7][10][11][12] To our knowledge, however, there is little or no information on the differences in bowel dysfunction between the young and elderly people with TCCS. The purpose of this study was to clarify the bowel management techniques and bowel care-related activity of daily living (ADL) in elderly persons with TCCS.…”

“…3 TCCS is generally considered to be associated with good prognosis and complete neurological and functional recovery. 1,[4][5][6] However, evidence suggests that the outcome is worse in the elderly than in younger people. 2,7,8 Neurogenic bowel dysfunction is a major physical and psychological problem in individuals with SCI in association with abnormalities of bowel motility and sphincter control, coupled with impaired motility and hand dexterity, making bowel management a major problem.…”