Motor and sensory recovery following incomplete tetraplegia

Fifty individuals with incomplete tetraplegia due to trauma underwent serial prospective examinations to quantify motor and sensory recovery. None of 5 patients who were motor complete with the presence of sacral (S4-S5) sharp/dull touch sensation unilaterally recovered any lower extremity motor function. However, in 8 motor complete subjects having bilateral sacral sharp/dull sensation present, the mean lower extremity motor score increased to 12.1 +/- 7.8 at 1 year. In 3 of the 8 cases, functional (> or = 3/5) recovery was seen in some muscles at 1 year. Though mean upper and lower extremity ASIA Motor Scores increased significantly (p < .001) between 1 month and 1 year for the entire sample, the annualized rate of motor recovery rapidly declined in the first 6 months and then subsequently approached plateau. Eighty-seven percent (20 of 23) of patients having a lower extremity motor score > or = 10 at 1 month were community ambulators using crutches and orthoses at 1 year follow-up.