With this, our first issue of 2014, we are pleased to bring you a diverse line-up of topics in spinal cord injury (SCI) care and research by international experts. Three reviews address common complications of SCI – autonomic dysreflexia, spasticity, and neuropathic pain. “Life-threatening outcomes associated with autonomic dysreflexia” by Wan & Krassioukov underscores the seriousness of autonomic dysreflexia, which can cause stroke, seizures, myocardial ischemia, and death. McIntyre et al. analyze data in the literature on 162 individuals in their review, “Examining the effectiveness of intrathecal baclofen on spasticity in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury: A systematic review.” Nardone et al. look at strategies for controlling persistent pain in “Invasive and non-invasive brain stimulation for treatment of neuropathic pain in patients with SCI,” including promising applications of non-invasive modalities: transcranial direct current stimulation, cranial electrotherapy stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Physiologic and metabolic changes that occur in individuals with chronic SCI are the focus of studies by Driussi et al. and Bauman et al. These articles examine the health implications of left ventricular abnormalities and low testosterone levels, respectively. Depression after SCI is common. In a VA study, Ullrich et al. look at the association between depression and psychiatric conditions, health care needs and medication use in veterans.
Improving function after SCI is addressed by authors with two very different approaches. A clinical study by Amr et al. shows the impact on neurogeneration in 14 patients with traumatic SCI who underwent peripheral nerve grafts combined with a chitosan-laminin scaffold and co-transplantation with bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells. The impact of functional electrical stimulation on recovery of locomotion after SCI is the focus of an animal study by Beaumont et al.
Little research has been conducted on the clinical impact of the Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity Score (TCLIS) for candidates for spine surgery. Joaquim et al. compare clinical outcomes for periods before (2000–6) and after (2007–10) implementation of the TCLIS.
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