[Neurologic disorders after injuries of the spine]

The most frequent result of a cervical or dorsal spinal cord injury is a transverse lesion with quadriplegia or paraplegia, total loss of bladder and bowel control, breakdown of sympathetic function, and complete loss of sensory function. Partial cord lesion leading to central/anterior/posterior or Brown-Séquard syndromes are rare. Progressive clinical signs of cord damage are only rarely due to sub- or epidural hematoma or edema; in nearly all cases, they point to a persistent instability of the spine.