MOTOR RECOVERY FOLLOWING SPINAL-CORD INJURY CAUSED BY STAB WOUNDS - AMULTICENTER STUDY

A prospective multicenter study was conducted by centers participating in the National Model Spinal Cord Injury System program to examine ne urological deficit and recovery patterns following spinal cord injury (SCI) resulting from stabs wounds. Thirty two patients were evaluated. Sixty three percent presented with motor incomplete lesions on initia l examination. In addition, four of seven who initially presented with motor complete paraplegia were motor incomplete at follow-up. Further more, 50% of those with motor incomplete lesions had asymmetrical moto r patterns indicative of a Brown-Sequard Syndrome. Although the percen tage of patients sustaining an incomplete SCI injury following a stab injury to the spine is higher than the percentage of incomplete lesion s associated with other etiologies, the amount of motor recovery when controlling for level and completeness of injury is no greater than pr eviously reported for other etiologies.