Be Aware. Your child might be putting his whole life in danger, without you even knowing about it

Are you aware of what your child is doing? Is he really safe or is he causing some serious damage to his spine without you even knowing about it. Don’t ignore it. He might be putting his whole life in danger.

Older children tend to be more aggressive in their activities and sports, thereby increasing the risk of injury to the bones, nerves and soft tissues in the spine. Teenagers are also more likely to test the limits of their bodies, often being exhorted by commercial advertising and/or peer pressure to push the envelope. At this point, compression fractures are more commonplace and also spinal cord injuries can take place.

Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused due to a traumatic injury that either results in a bruise, a partial tear, or a complete tear in the spinal cord. Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is a common cause of permanent disability and death in children.

There are many causes of SCI in children. The more common injuries occur when the area of the spine or neck is bent or compressed as in the following:
 

·         Birth injuries, which typically affect the spinal cord in the neck area

·         Falls

·         Motor vehicle accidents

·         Sports injuries

·         Diving accidents

·         Trampoline accidents

·         Violence (gunshot or stab wounds)

·         Infections that form an abscess on the spinal cord

After a traumatic event, a person may have varying degrees of symptoms associated with the severity and location of the SCI. The location of the injury on the spinal cord will determine how severe the injury will be. The extent of the damage to the spinal cord determines whether the injury is complete or incomplete. A complete injury means that there is no movement or feeling below the level of the injury. An incomplete injury means that there is still some degree of feeling or movement below the level of the injury.

The symptoms of SCI may include:

·         Muscle weakness

·         Loss of voluntary muscle movement in the chest, arms, or legs

·         Breathing problems

·         Loss of feeling in the chest, arms, legs, or buttocks

·         Loss of bowel and bladder function

·         Abnormal autonomic regulation (poor blood pressure control, sweating, shivering, abnormal function of the stomach and intestines)

To diagnose it following tests may be conducted including: Blood tests, X-ray, Computed tomography scan (also called a CT or CAT scan), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 
Specific treatment for an acute spinal cord injury will be determined by a child's doctor based on:

·         Child's age, overall health, and medical history

·         The extent of the SCI

·         The type of SCI

·         Child's tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies

·         Expectations for the course of the SCI

·         The opinion or preference of the parents.

Further treatment may also include:

·

     Observation and medical management in the intensive care unit

·         Medications, such as corticosteroids (which may help decrease the swelling in the spinal cord)

·         Mechanical ventilator. A breathing machine used to help the child breathe.

·         Bladder catheter. A tube that is placed into the bladder that helps to drain the urine into a collection bag.

·         Feeding tube. This is placed through the nostril to the stomach or directly through the abdomen into the stomach to provide extra nutrition and calories for the child.

A child may also suffer from lifelong SCI which requires frequent medical evaluations and diagnostic testing following hospitalization and rehabilitation to monitor his or her progress.