Spinal cord
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The effect of direct electrical stimulation on colinic transit and manometric recordings following spinal cord injury were assessed in five adult male cats. Intra-colonic catheters were surgically placed, stimulating electrodes were sutured to the colonic serosa and a laminectomy with spinal cord clamping at a T4 level was done to induce spinal cord injury (SCI). Twenty radiopaque markers were inserted through an intra-colonic catheter located 1 cm distal to the cecum and were monitored with daily fluoroscopy as a measure of colonic transit. ⋯ Manometric defection patterns were also observed to be similar before SCI and after SCI with electrical stimulation. Based on our scoring criteria, the most frequent response to electrical stimulation was an abdominal contraction. These findings demonstrate that colonic transit is prolonged following SCI and that direct electrical stimulation of the colon following SCI improves colonic transit in an animal model.
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Patients with chronic tetraplegia are prone to develop unique clinical problems which require readmission to specialised centres where the health professionals are trained specifically to diagnose, and treat the diseases afflicting this group of patients. An appraisal of the readmission pattern of tetraplegic patients will provide the necessary data for planning allocation of beds for treatment of chronic tetraplegic patients. Hospital records of patients with tetraplegia readmitted to the Regional Spinal Injuries Centre, Southport, UK between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1995 were analyzed to find out the number of tetraplegic patients who required readmission, reasons for readmission, duration of hospital stay, and mortality among patients readmitted. ⋯ As more patients with high cervical spinal cord injury survive the initial period of trauma, and as the life expectancy of tetraplegic patients increases, it is likely that greater numbers of tetraplegic patients will be requiring readmission to spinal injuries centre. Although it may be possible to prevent some of the complications of spinal cord injury and hence the need for a readmission, progress in medicine and rehabilitation technology will create additional demands for readmissions of chronic tetraplegic patients in order to implement the newer therapeutic strategies. Thus a change in the pattern of readmission of chronic tetraplegic patients is likely to be the future trend and this should be taken into account while making plans for providing the optimum care to chronic tetraplegic patients.