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According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, as many as 450,000 people in the United States are living with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Other organizations conservatively estimate this figure to be about 250,000. Every year, an estimated 11,000 SCIs occur in the United States. Most of these are caused by trauma to the vertebral column, thereby affecting the spinal cord's ability to send and receive messages from the brain to the body's systems that control sensory, motor and autonomic function below the level of injury.

According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), SCI costs the nation an estimated $9.7 billion each year. Pressure sores alone, a common secondary condition among people with SCI, cost an estimated $1.2 billion.

Incidence

• The incidence of SCI is highest among persons age 16-30, in whom 53.1 percent of injuries occur; more injuries occur in this age group than in all other age groups combined.
• Males represent 81.2 percent of all reported SCIs and 89.8 percent of all sports-related SCIs
• Among both genders, auto accidents, falls and gunshots are the three leading causes of SCI, in that order. Among males, diving accidents ranked fourth, followed by motorcycle accidents. Among females, medical/surgical complications ranked fourth, followed by diving accidents.
• Auto accidents are the leading cause of SCI in the United States for people age 65 and younger, while falls are the leading cause of SCI for people 65 and older.
• Sports and recreation-related SCI injuries primarily affect people under age 29

The Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is about 18 inches long, extending from the base of the brain to near the waist. Many of the bundles of nerve fibers that make up the spinal cord itself contain upper motor neurons (UMNs). Spinal nerves that branch off the spinal cord at regular intervals in the neck and back contain lower motor neurons (LMNs). The spine itself is divided into four sections, not including the tailbone:

• Cervical vertebrae (1-7), located in the neck
• Thoracic vertebrae (1-12), in the upper back (attached to the ribcage)
• Lumbar vertebrae (1-5), in the lower back
• Sacral vertebrae (1-5), in the pelvis

Types and Levels of SCI

The severity of an injury depends on the part of the spinal cord that is affected. The higher the SCI on the vertebral column, or the closer it is to the brain, the more effect it has on how the body moves and what one can feel. More movement, feeling and voluntary control are generally present with injuries at lower levels.

• Tetraplegia (a.k.a. quadriplegia) results from injuries to the spinal cord in the cervical (neck) region, with associated loss of muscle strength in all four extremities.
• Paraplegia results from injuries to the spinal cord in the thoracic or lumbar areas, resulting in paralysis of the legs and lower part of the body.