Spinal Cord Compression Flashcards
1
Q
What sensations are carried within the:
- Spinothalamic tract
- Dorsal colums
A
- Pain, temperature and crude touch
2. Fine touch, propriocepton and vibration
2
Q
What happens initially following a cord transection?
A
A flaccid areflexic (absent reflexes) paralysis
- UMN signs appear later due to “Spinal Shock”
3
Q
What symptoms arise in a Brown-Sequard syndrome? (Cord Hemisection)
A
- Ipsilateral motor paralysis
- Ipsilateral loss of fine touch, proprioception and vibration (dorsal columns)
- Contralateral loss of pain, temperature and crude touch sensation (spinothalamic)
4
Q
What symptoms arise in a central cord syndrome?
A
- Hyperflexion or extension injury
- Distal upper limb weakness
- ‘Cape-like’ spinothalamic sensory loss
5
Q
What is different about chronic spinal cord compression compared to acute?
A
UMN signs predominate