A spinal cord injury (SCI) happens when there’s damage to your spinal cord, a thick bundle of nerve fibers that allows your brain to communicate with other nerves almost everywhere else in your body. Learn about spinal cord injury (SCI), a damage to the nerves and fibers that send signals from the brain. Find out how SCI affects feeling, movement, and body functions, and what are the common causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are multidimensional disorders arising from direct or indirect spinal cord damage. The most common cause of SCI is acute trauma from motor vehicle collisions, although the condition may also arise from insidious etiologies such as malignancies and chronic tuberculous infection. Spinal cord lesions may lead to permanent disability, significant morbidity, and mortality. High spinal injuries often impair cardiorespiratory function and require emergent interventions. Overview of Spinal Cord Injuries What is a Spinal Cord Injury Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a sudden onset disruption to the neuronal tissue within the spinal canal resulting in spinal cord damage, which occurs as a result of trauma, disease or degeneration. [1] [2] Any damage to the spinal cord is a very complex injury.
