Spinal cord lesion

Question 1

What happens after you get a complete spinal cord lesion within 1-3 days?

Answer 1

There will be no reflex below the lesion for 1-3 days.
A decrease in blood pressure, which can be significant if the lesion is high. This is caused by vasodilation caused by lack of parasympathetc stimulation.

No sweating, and bladder and bowl movements are gone

Question 2

What happens after you get a complete spinal cord lesion within several weeks?

Answer 2

Increased tone
Increased reflexes
Reflex emptying of bladder and rectum
BP increased bu unstable.
Withdrawal reflexes recovered
Extensor plantor response
Paresthesia - burning pain in the abdomen. Difficult to treat.

Mechanism of recovery - reprogramming of remaining axons conenctios - syaptic plasticity
Nerves become more sensitivity to remaining stimuli