SPINAL CORD INJURY

1
SPINAL CORD INJURY

• What is the spinal cord?
• What happens when a spinal cord is injured?
• Whats an incomplete SCI?
• Why is level of injury important?
• Fast Facts

2
What is the spinal cord?

• The spinal cord is a thick bundle of nerves that
  runs through the vertebrae (backbones) in your
  spine. This nerve bundle is about 18 inches long,
  starting at the base of your brain and ending at
  your buttocks. The spinal cord acts as a
  superhighway between your brain and the rest of
  your body. Want to take a step, or wriggle a
  finger? The message is normally sent through the
  spinal cord to these body parts, in the form of
  nerve impulses. The highway runs in both
  directions stub a toe or touch something sharp,
  and those pain or pressure signals speed back up
  to your brain faster than you can say ow.

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What happens when a spinal cord is injured?

• An accident that causes your vertebrae to break
  can also damage your spinal cord. And when the
  spinal cord is damaged, the highway is
  essentially closed. Nerve impulses cant get
  through. This results in paralysis loss of
  mobility and sensation below the level of
  injury.

4
Whats an incomplete SCI?

• Not all spinal cord injuries cause complete
  paralysis. In the case of an incomplete spinal
  cord injury, a small stream of highway traffic
  still gets through. Someone with an incomplete
  SCI may have a certain amount of feeling or
  movement below the level of injury. Often, in the
  case of an incomplete SCI, one side of the body
  has more function than the other. Thanks to new
  medical treatments at the time of injury,
  incomplete spinal cord injuries are more common
  than they used to be. These same injuries might
  have been complete if theyd happened a couple of
  decades earlier.

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Why is level of injury important?

• The site of your injury will determine what parts
  of your body are paralyzed. The higher the
  injury, the more body parts that are affected.
  For instance, a spinal cord injury in the upper,
  or cervical, region of your spine will affect
  your arms as well as your trunk, legs and pelvic
  area (including bowel and bladder). Someone with
  this level of injury is considered to be
  quadriplegic. But an injury lower down, in the
  thoracic or lumbar region, wont affect your
  arms. Someone with a spinal cord injury in either
  of these regions is considered to be paraplegic.
  About half of all people with SCI are
  quadriplegic, and half are paraplegic.

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Fast Facts

• A spinal cord injury can happen to anyone at any
  time.
• There are 600 new spinal cord injuries every year
  in Ontario (more than one a day) and current
  estimates indicate that there are approximately
  33,140 Ontarians living with spinal cord injury.
  (Urban Futures Institute Report, 2010)
• In Canada there are more than 1,500 new spinal
  cord injuries per year. There is an estimated
  86,000 people living in the country with spinal
  cord injuries. (s based on research by the Urban
  Futures Institute, 2010)

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...More Fast Facts...

• Spinal cord injury is one of the most traumatic
  events to occur in an individuals life.
• Spinal cord injury affects family, friends,
  employers, community and the health care system.
• People can, and do, make a positive adjustment to
  life with a spinal cord injury given the right
  supports at the right time.
• On average, it takes 2 to 3 years to attain
  sufficient independence following a spinal cord
  injury.

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...and even more Fast Facts...

• Intensive psycho-social support is a critical
  component to rehabilitation from the onset of
  injury, through acute hospitalization,
  rehabilitation and transition to community
  living.
• It is estimated that the annual economic burden
  of traumatic SCI in Canada is approximately 3.6
  billion, of which 1.8 billion is associated with
  direct health care costs. (Urban Futures
  Institute Report, 2010)

9
Some statistics

• The top causes for traumatic spinal cord injuries
  in Ontario are
• unintentional falls 43.2
• motor vehicle accidents 42.8
• In Ontario, males represent 68.4 of traumatic
  spinal cord injuries. Women represent 31.6.
• In Ontario, the highest incidence of traumatic
  injury is to individuals in the age range of
  20-29 and to also, those over 70 years of age.
• Problems related to pain, mobility and agility
  affected the largest number of adults. Nearly 3
  million adults aged 15 and over, or 11 of this
  age group, reported one of these limitations.
  (PALS 2006)

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Some more stats

• Disabilities related to mobility were present in
  less than 2 of people between the ages of 15 and
  24, but affected about 44 of individuals aged 75
  and over. (PALS 2006)
• Ontario reported a disability rate (15.5)
  slightly higher than the national rate. (PALS
  2006)
• It is estimated that 90 of what we know about
  spinal cord injury has been discovered in the
  last 20 years. (Rick Hansen Institute)

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Sports and SCIs

• Interested in getting back in the game? Sports
  like basketball, rugby, hockey and tennis have
  all been adapted for people who use wheelchairs.
  Check out these links to wheelchair sport
  organizations in Ontario.
• Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association http//www.
  cwsa.ca
• Ontario Wheelchair Sports Associationhttp//www.on
  twheelchairsports.org
• Spitfires Wheelchair Sports Association
  Ontariohttp//www.spitfirechallenge.ca
• National Capital Sports Council of the
  Disabled http//www.ncscd.ca
• National Capital Wheelchair Tennis
  Associationhttp//www.magma.ca/ncwta
• Canadian Electric Wheelchair Hockey
  Associationhttp//www.geocities.com/cewha
• Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing
  Ontariohttp//www.disabledskiingontario.com
• Canadian Paralympic Committee http//www.paralympi
  c.ca
• And just for funHeard about Murderball? This
  award-winning movie about the fast and furious
  sport of wheelchair rugby?
• Check the sport out http//www.youtube.com/watch
  ?vTiC9O76UoLc