Thermoregulation following spinal cord injury

COVID-19: Screening and triage challenges in people with disability due to Spinal Cord Injury

“…neurological level of injury (NLI) [1][2][3][4]. In those with NLI at or above thoracic level 6 (T6), noxious simulation including infection below the NLI may result in autonomic dysreflexia (AD), a medical emergency with symptoms including: elevated blood pressure, low heart rate, chest tightness, facial flushing, profuse sweating, vision changes, and pounding headache [5].…”

“…Temperature dysregulation has shown to be proportional to the NLI, with persons with tetraplegia being more impaired than persons with paraplegia [4]. Though urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common cause of fever and emergency room visits in persons with SCI who have an indwelling catheter, a positive urine analysis (UA) should not stop further investigation of a fever in the setting of associated respiratory symptoms [3] given the high likelihood this represents asymptomatic bacteriuria without any other focal signs of infection [13].…”

Exercise Core Body Temperature is Adequately Regulated Following Spinal Cord Injury: A Meta-Analysis

“…Following SCI, the afferent pathways from the periphery to the thermoregulatory effectors in the hypothalamus are disrupted, accounting for the abnormal physiological control during physical activities and exercise (Walter & Krassioukov, 2018). During continuous submaximal exercise in temperate and warm conditions (20-30°C), athletes with SCI show elevated core body temperature, and this increase in core body temperature is more evident in athletes with high level lesion when traumatic damage occurs above T6 (Price, 2016;Price & Trbovich, 2018). This alteration of sympathetic nervous system activity below the lesion level also impairs sweating, increasing susceptibility of heat illness (Price, 2016).…”

“…A growing number of studies however reported that thermoregulation in persons with SCI during exercise was more dynamic than traditionally believed. Evidence for this possibility has been revisited by Price and Trbovich (2018). Briefly, persons with paraplegia appear to show similar exercise core body temperature responses compared to the able-bodied in temperate and warm environments, while persons with tetraplegia appear to show gre-CORE BODY TEMPERATURE FOLLOWING SPINAL CORD INJURY | Y. ZHANG ET AL.…”

“…ater heat imbalance due to greater loss of sympathetic nervous system control (Price & Trbovich, 2018). Despite our growing knowledge of thermoregulatory capabilities in various populations, there remains a paucity of information related to athletes with SCI.…”