Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:19:45.189Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Acute Spinal Cord Compression

from Section 3 - Neurological Emergencies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2023

By
Cristal Cristia
Edited by
Kaushal Shah  and
Jarone Lee
Edited in association with
Clark G. Owyang  and
Benjamin Christian Renne
Kaushal Shah
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York
Jarone Lee
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Clark G. Owyang
Affiliation:
Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York
Benjamin Christian Renne
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
Get access

Summary

  • Acute spinal cord compression results from impingement on the spinal cord due to a variety of etiologies, including neoplasm, hemorrhage, infection or other structural abnormality at any vertebral level.

  • Any patient who presents with a history of trauma, intravenous drug use (IVDU) or immunocompromised state with associated neurological deficit and/or back pain should be evaluated for acute cord compression.

  • Neoplastic disease is rarely confined to a single location; therefore, the entire spine should be evaluated when metastatic disease is suspected.

Keywords

back painneurological symptomsweakness
Type
Chapter
Information
Practical Emergency Resuscitation and Critical Care , pp. 131 - 138
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Fehlings, MG, Cadotte, DW, Fehlings, LN. A series of systematic reviews on the treatment of acute spinal cord injury: A foundation for best medical practice. J Neurotrauma 2011;28:1329–1333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
George, R, Jeba, J, Ramkumar, G, et al. Interventions for the treatment of metastatic extradural spinal cord compression in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008;4:CD006716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markandaya, M, Stein, DM, Menaker, J. Acute treatment options for spinal cord injury. Curr Treat Options Neurol 2011;14:175–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×