Treatment of Spinal

Cord Injury in India

 What is Spinal Cord?

Spinal Cord is the group of

nerves that travels from the
base of the brain and
reaches down to the lower
back.
 Functions of Spinal Cord

• The main nerves of

the body that
connects to all
somatic nerves.

Cont.
 Functions of Spinal Cord
• Spinal Cord also transmits the impulses that it
receives from the body and helps the body in
decoding the connection.
• It helps in movement, to feel pain,
temperature and pressure.
 What is Spinal Cord Injury?

• Trauma or damage to the spinal

cord results in impairment or
dysfunctioning because of
decrease in mobility.

Cont.
 What is Spinal Cord Injury?
• Some of the reasons of Spinal Cord Injury
include- car accident, gunshot, sport
injuries etc.
• Some diseases that can cause problems in
Spine are Polio, Spina Bifida, Transverse
Myelitis, Friedreich etc.
 Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
Two types of Spinal Cord
Injuries-
1. Complete Spinal Cord
Injury
2. Incomplete Spinal Cord
Injury
 Complete Spinal Cord Injury
• It is also known as Complete
Tetraplegia or Complete
Paraplegia.
• There exists permanent halt in
functioning of nerve and motor
function.

Cont.
 Complete Spinal Cord Injury
• Also loss of sensation in the bladder,
sexual region, legs, bladder.
• Paraplegia is a condition that limits the
movement of trunk and the movements
like walking and standing gets limited to
short distances, that too a walking
equipment is used.
 Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury
• Incomplete injuries are more common
than complete injuries.
• It involves movement in small degree
and a few sensations below the level of
injury.
• Those injuries can lead to little or no
feeling.
 Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury
• Loss of movement
• Loss or altered sensation,
including the ability to feel heat,
cold and touch
• Loss of bowel or bladder control
 Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury
• Exaggerated reflex activities or spasms
• Changes in sexual function, sexual sensitivity and fertility
• Pain or an intense stinging sensation caused by damage to the nerve fibers in
your spinal cord
• Difficulty breathing, coughing or clearing secretions from your lungs
 Emergency Symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury

• Extreme back pain or pressure in your neck, head or back

• Weakness, incoordination or paralysis in any part of your body
• Numbness, tingling or loss of sensation in your hands, fingers, feet or toes
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Difficulty with balance and walking
• Impaired breathing after injury
• An oddly positioned or twisted neck or back
 Causes of Spinal Cord Injury
• a violent attack such as a stabbing or a gunshot
• diving into water that’s too shallow and hitting the bottom
• trauma during a car accident, specifically trauma to the face, head, and neck region,
back, or chest area
• falling from a significant height
• head or spinal injuries during sporting events
• electrical accidents
• severe twisting of the middle portion of the torso
 Non-Traumatic Injury
• Medical conditions like spina bifida and
multiple sclerosis
• Viral or bacterial infection of the spinal
nerve cells
• The problem of blood supply to the spinal
cord
• Growths pressing on the spinal cord
 Effect of Injury in Spinal Cord
• Loss of numbness or sensation
• Erectile dysfunction
• Breathing difficulties
• Constipation and faecal incontinence caused by loss of bowel control
• Pain
• Paralysis or muscle weakness
• Reduced control of body temperature
• Incontinence caused by loss of bladder control
 Diagnosis of Spinal Cord Injury
• Spine X-rays
• MRI or CT scan of the spine
• Somatosensory evoked potential
(SSEP) magnetic or testing stimulation
• Myelogram is the X-ray of the spine
after injecting dye
 Treatment of Spinal Cord Injury
• Removing disc fragments, foreign objects
and bone fragments
• Fusing the broken spinal bones or placing
of the spinal braces
• Removing tissue or fluid that presses on
the spinal cord (decompression
laminectomy)
Types of Spine Surgeries
 Types of Spine Surgeries
1. Foraminotomy
2. Laminectomy
3. Spinal disc replacement
4. Spine Fusion
5. Discectomy
 Foraminotomy
• Surgical procedure involving removal of tissues that compresses
the nerve in the back.
• While performing surgical procedures the surgeons removes part
of the bone that constricts the nerves in the spinal column.
• When the stability of the spine is affected spinal fusion is
performed.
 Laminectomy
• Most recommended type of spine surgery for spinal conditions which are
causes by spondylolisthesis and stenosis.
• The procedure of the surgery involves removing the parts of the back bone
in order to relieve pressure on the spinal nerves.
• The surgery is usually performed in combination with spine fusion surgery
when instability of spine is suspected.
 Spinal Disc Replacement

• It is not very popular surgical

procedure.
• It is one of the new surgical
procedure.

Cont.
 Spinal Disc Replacement
• To replace the damaged spinal disc an
artificial disc is used. It is present between the
vertebrae.
• Surgery results in continued spine mobility
and can be performed without spine fusion.
 Spine Fusion

• This surgery involves joining two

vertebrae together to increase spine
stability.
• This results in restricted movements and
limits stretching of nerves.
 Discectomy

• It is a type of spine surgery that is used to treat the herniated disc in the
vertebrae.
• A disc separates two vertebrae and if it herniates inwards it presses on the
spinal nerves causing pain.
• In discectomy all or part of the disc is removed.
 Recovery of Spinal Cord Injury
• Once the condition of the patient get stabilized, it is vital to get started with
the rehabilitation process in order to protect the muscles from getting
atrophic.
• The physical therapist plays an important role by providing best care and
advancement in technology also has a major role to play in the process.

Cont.
 Recovery of Spinal Cord Injury
• For some patients the mobility is provided
with the help of wheelchair, walker or leg
braces.
• Occupational therapy is done by
redeveloping motor skills.
Hospitals in India for treatment of Spinal Cord
Injury
1. MAX Super Speciality Hospital
2. Medanta Medicity
3. FORTIS Memorial Research Institute
4. Gleneagles Global Hospital
5. Artemis Hospital
6. VPS Rockland Hospital
 Best Healthcare Professionals for Treatment

1. Dr Puneet Girdhar – BLK Hospital

2. Dr Bipin Walia- MAX Hospital
3. Dr Mandeep Singh- Rockland
Hospital
4. Dr Ramneek Mahajan- MAX Hospital
5. Dr AN Jha- Medanta Hospital
 Cost of Spinal Cord Injury in India
Approximate cost of treatment of injuries related to spine starts from $4000.
Cost of the surgery is dependent on the factors like –
1. Type of Surgery
2. Condition of the patient etc.
 Contact Us

MedMonks

Address:- 706, Pearl Business Park, Netaji Subhash Place, Pitampura,

New Delhi, Delhi - 110034
Email i’d:- wecare@medmonks.com
Website:- https://medmonks.com/
Contact no:- +917683088559
Thank You