Motor recovery following spinal cord injury caused by stab wounds: a multicenter study

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Describes a prospective multicenter study that involved nine centers participating in the National Model Spinal Cord Injury System program. The study investigated neurological deficit and recovery patterns following spinal cord injury (SCI) from stab wounds. Subjects were 32 individuals with SCI following stab wounds. Detailed motor examinations were completed upon admission to the system and at 1 year following date of injury. Each of the 10 key muscle groups representing myotomes from C5 to S1 was tested bilaterally on a standard six-point manual muscle testing scale, and bladder control status and ambulatory status were also assessed at each point in time. Data analysis indicated that 63 percent of the subjects presented with motor incomplete lesions on initial examination, and 4 of the 7 who initially presented with motor complete paraplegia were motor incomplete at followup. A total of 50 percent of those with motor incomplete lesions had asymmetrical motor patterns indicative of a Brown-Sequard Syndrome. Though the percentage of subjects sustaining an incomplete SCI injury following stab injury was higher than the percentage of incomplete lesions related to other etiologies, the amount of motor recovery when controlling for level and completeness of injury was not higher than previously reported for other etiologies.

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