Types of injuries
Spinal cord and spinal cord injuries are the most severe neurosurgical pathology, as they are mainly suffered by patients of working age and most often such injuries are disabling.
In most cases, injuries affect both the spine and spinal cord, but there are also isolated injuries – spinal fractures without neurological disorders, and neurological symptoms without spinal damage.
Symptoms
The cervical and lumbar regions are most often damaged, the symptoms depend on the level of damage:
- When the cervical spine is damaged, movement and sensitivity in the arms and legs are impaired, and the functions of the pelvic organs are impaired.
- When the lumbar spine is damaged, motor and sensory damage to the legs and pelvic disorders appear.
Concussion and bruise
Spinal cord injuries come in the form of concussions or bruises. Concussions are the mildest type of injury , with lost functions usually recovering within a few days.
Spinal cord injury , in turn, is a more severe injury in which motor and sensory disorders take a long time to recover or may not recover at all.
Surgical treatment
Surgical interventions for spinal cord and spine injuries are attempted as early as possible. In the case of spinal fractures, surgical intervention is aimed at stabilizing the damaged area, and in the case of spinal cord injuries, at the earliest possible elimination of spinal cord compression.
Surgical intervention performed as early as possible allows rehabilitation to begin as early as possible and improves the prognosis for restoring lost functions.
The quality of neurosurgical care largely depends on the diagnostic base of the medical institution, therefore, the patient should be transported to a hospital equipped with a computed tomography scanner as soon as possible, and only after a thorough examination is a decision made on the patient’s treatment tactics.
Doctor Zhuravlev A.F.
