- Discussion: - type of
incomplete cord syndrome: - injury to either side of spinal cord produces ipsilateral muscle paralysis and contralateral hypersthesia to pain and temperature; - syndrome results from hemitransection of spinal cord w/ unilateral damage to the spinothalamic & corticospinal tracts and resultant loss of ipsilateral motor & dorsal column function & of contra- lateral pain and temperature sensation; - common injury mechanisms include penetrating trauma or unilateral facet fracture or dislocation; - Diff Dx: - Primary Spinal Cord Neoplasia: - Prognosis: - this syndrome has a good prognosis for recovery; - more than 90% of pts regain bladder & bowel control & ability to walk; - most patients will regain some strength in lower extremities and most will regain functional walking ability; -------------------------
Blunt cervical spine Brown-S'equard injury. A report of three cases.
Blunt cervical spine Brown-S'equard injury. A report of three cases. Oller-D-W. Boone-S. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Am-Surg. 1991 Jun. 57(6). P 361-5. Cervical spinal cord Brown-S'equard syndrome was diagnosed in three recent victims of blunt injury at the authors' Level II Trauma Center. While anatomic hemisection of the cord, resulting in ipsilateral motor and proprioception loss and contralateral pain and temperature deficit, is a fully understandable concept, in the context of the acute trauma evaluation, these findings may be confusing because they are unexpected. Penetrating trauma is far more likely to cause this uncommon syndrome than vehicular crash, fall, or crushing injury. [1mPediatric [m victims frequently have no [1mfracture. [m Early neurosurgical consultation, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if plain film radiography is uninformative, and consideration for rapid decompression if the deficit and pathologic anatomy warrant, are the recommended approaches. Motor function recovery from blunt injury may be expected within six months, a better prognosis than for penetrating injury causing the syndrome. Author-abstract.
