How is paraplegia diagnosed?
How is paraplegia diagnosed?
Diagnosing paraplegia will usually involve medical imaging. These tests help doctors assess the damage and identify the cause of paralysis. For example, they might use an MRI scan, a CT scan, or an X-ray. To test nerve functioning, the doctor may use electromyography.
How do you diagnose a spinal injury?
Diagnostic tests for spinal cord injuries may include a CT scan, MRI or X-ray These tests will help the doctors get a better look at abnormalities within the spinal cord. Your doctor will be able to see exactly where the spinal cord injury has occurred.
What is a Frankel score?
The Frankel Grade classification provides an assessment of spinal cord function and is used as a tool in spinal cord injury, as follows: [1, 2, 3, 4] Grade A: Complete neurological injury – No motor or sensory function detected below level of lesion.
What are the differential diagnosis of paraplegia?
The differential diagnoses for sudden bilateral paraplegia include thoracolumbar spine trauma that compromises the innervation of the lower extremities, either due to vertebral fracture or compression from a displaced intervertebral disk; neoplasia, either of the spinal cord or adjacent tissues that exerts a mechanical …
What conditions cause paraplegia?
Common causes of paralysis include strokes, spinal cord injuries and nerve disorders like multiple sclerosis. Bell’s palsy causes temporary facial paralysis. Paraplegia involves both legs, while quadriplegia affects all limbs.
What causes paraplegia?
Paraplegia happens when there is damage below the neck. The most common cause is trauma, such as from a sports injury or car accident. Other causes are: Stroke.
What is sacral sparing?
What Does Sacral Sparing Indicate? Sacral sparing is used to help diagnose whether a person’s spinal cord injury is complete or incomplete. With complete spinal cord injuries, all sensory and motor functions below your level of injury are affected because signals from the brain cannot travel past the spinal lesion.