Spinal Cord Injuries in Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Spinal cord injury is a serious medical disorder that frequently leads in significant morbidity and permanent impairment. Direct damage to the spinal cord or compression owing to broken vertebrae or masses such as epidural hematomas or abscesses are the most common causes of spinal cord injury. When examining a blunt trauma victim, medical professionals are taught to presume the patient has a spinal column damage unless it is proven otherwise. The early examination of a patient with a suspected cervical spinal injury in the emergency department (ED) is no different than that of any other trauma patient. The ABCs, or airway, breathing, and circulation, procedures are being taken into consideration. In acute spinal cord damage, hypotension can be hemorrhagic or neurogenic. Because of the high prevalence of concomitant injuries and vital sign confusion in acute spinal cord injury, a thorough search for hidden sources of bleeding is required. Surgical removal of bone fragments, foreign objects, herniated discs, or broken vertebrae that appear to be compressing the spine is frequently required. In order to avoid future discomfort or deformity, surgery may be required to stabilize the spine. In this review we’ll be looking at spinal cord injury, it’s diagnosis and treatment.