ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Ivanhoe Newswire)— More 5,000 people in the U.S. become paralyzed from the neck down each year due a spinal cord injury. The first six to 12 months after the injury are critical. The movement gained during this time is usually all the movement they will regain for the rest of their lives. But now, neurosurgeons are giving new hope to paraplegics.
Andy Hellrich has been confined to a wheelchair for five years. He vividly remembers the day he walked into a chiropractor’s office and never walked again.
“And then after they manipulated my neck, I took four steps away from the adjustable table. And then I sat down in the chair,” Hellrich explains.
His C5 and C6 vertebrae were broken.
“As of today, I have no feeling from the chest to the toes,” Hellrich says.
Two years after his injury, a team of researchers at Washington University’s School of Medicine performed a nerve transfer on Andy’s left hand to give him more movement.
“Nerve transfer is rerouting a less critical function to an area of more critical function,” Wilson Z Ray, MD tells Ivanhoe News of the procedure.
Typically taking nerves from larger muscles like the biceps or elbow and tricep flexors. Surgeons attach the nerve from above the site of injury to nerves below the site of injury that connect to muscles in the hands and arms.
Dr. Ray says, “With a spinal cord injury, effectively there’s a conduction block at that area of injury. The signals are no longer getting through there, but it doesn’t mean the muscles and nerves aren’t still connected to the spinal cord. And that’s what we’re taking advantage of.”
“I have a better range of motion in the hand, and I can open it up. If you see this hand, I can go like this and close it. And if you look at this hand, I can only do about this much,” Hellrich says of the aftereffects of the procedure.
And with time and more therapy Hellrich hopes he’ll see even more improvement.
Doctors say the best candidates have suffered spinal cord injuries in their necks and are at least six months out from their injury. Recently surgeons have even performed the nerve transfer on a patient who has been paralyzed for 30 years.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Source:
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TOPIC: RESTORING HOPE: RESTORING MOVEMENT TO PARAPLEGICS
REPORT: MB #4983
BACKGROUND: Spinal cord injuries can occur when bone of the spine cuts or presses on the spinal cord. This can happen for many reasons including a fall, car accident, or sports related injury. It can also occur when something pierces the spinal cord. After the spinal cord is injured, communication between the brain and the rest of the body is interrupted. The closer the injury is to the head, the less movement the patient will experience throughout the rest of the body. If injured in the middle of the back, the patient will lose the movement or feeling in their legs, this is called paralysis and paraplegia.
(Source: https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/aftercareinformation/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=zc1851)
DIAGNOSING: Diagnosing paraplegia is done by a doctor assessing the patient’s symptoms and medical history. They will also ask about recent accidents and whether or not the patient has a family history of related conditions. Doing this will establish the cause of the paraplegia which is important when deciding which treatment option will be used. Doctors will also utilize an MRI scan, CT scan or X-ray. In order to test the function of the nerves on the injured areas, the doctor may use electromyography which will measure the body’s responses after given the stimulation. The main symptom of this injury is a loss of sensation below where the injury occurred, more symptoms include, impaired mobility, weight gain, depression, phantom bouts of pain or sensation in the lower body, chronic pain, sexual dysfunction, difficulty with bladder and bowel function, secondary infections, such as bedsores and skin problems, and autonomic dysreflexia.
(Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-is-paraplegia#symptoms)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: Experimental research is aiming to help patients get their sense of touch back. The project is run by the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center, which is a consortium of the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Clinic Neurological Institute. A neurological surgery is performed and electrodes are implanted into the brain. The hope of this study is for patients to be able to control their limbs after the implant is inserted.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:
JUDY MARTIN FINCH
314-286-0105
If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com
