Tag: Autonomic Dysreflexia
Autonomic dysreflexia in spinal cord injury
Autonomic dysreflexia often goes unrecognised in patients with spinal cord injury. Health professionals must be able to recognise when patients are at risk.
A young patient with tetraplegia arrives in the emergency department with a severe headache, dilated pupils, beads of sweat on their forehead, chest pain, bradycardia and a blood pressure of 280/130. What do you think is happening? Recreational drug use? A hypertensive crisis with a renal, endocrine or neurological cause? Is your immediate response to carry out an electrocardiogram and blood tests? In fact, this life-threatening emergency could be caused by something as simple as a full bladder.
SCI-U | Healthy living starts here
SCI-U is a series of 10 multimedia courses about learning to live with spinal cord injury. The courses have been designed to give you the information you need to live a healthy, active life. They were developed by people who live with SCI, in collaboration with researchers and clinicians.
What is Autonomic Dysreflexia?
Autonomic Dysreflexia
Autonomic dysreflexia (AD) is a potentially life-threatening medical emergency that affects people with spinal cord injuries at the T6 level or higher. Although...
Nervous System Function and Autonomic Dysreflexia
The nervous system controls movement, sensation, thinking and behavioral activities. It consists of various elements which comprise the whole complex working process. It is...
Bladder Programs After a Spinal Cord Injury
Nerve damage to the bladder is a common side effects of having a spinal cord injury, other injury, surgical procedures, and several disease processes....
Secondary Conditions of Spinal Cord Injury
When living with a spinal cord injury (SCI), there are more challenges than just not being able to walk. There are other healthcare issues...
Ohio State Researchers Restore Immune Function In Spinal Injured Mice
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a new study, researchers at The Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical...
Paralympics: Spinal Cord Injuries Open Door to ‘Boosting’
Bryan Kirkland could always spot a booster. Sweaty arms, shaky legs and "chicken skin" were telltale signs of the dangerous practice, banned from the...
‘Not having the right bowel care is demeaning’
Reg Penn, who is paralysed from the chest down discusses his distress at the bowel care he recently received
The patient
I was 18 years old...
Ensuring a patient received appropriate bowel care following spinal cord injury
Bowel care routines after spinal cord injury must be established and tailored to patients’ individual needs. Policies and procedures need to be regularly reviewed
This...