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Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair
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Long-Term Follow-up of Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Figen Yilmaz

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sisli Etfal Teaching and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey, figenyilmaz{at}yahoo.com

Fusun Sahin

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sisli Etfal Teaching and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

Semra Aktug

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Izmir Ataturk Teaching and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

Banu Kuran

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sisli Etfal Teaching and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

Adem Yilmaz

Department of Neurosurgery, Sisli Etfal Teaching and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the motor, sensory, and functional recovery in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods. Forty-one patients with SCI participated in this study. Twenty patients were evaluated after discharge. Each patient was evaluated by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) at admission, before discharge, and at least at 6 months after discharge. Friedman, Dunn, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for statistical analysis. Results. There were 17 male and 3 female patients. Seven patients had complete SCI, and 13 patients had incomplete SCI. The evaluation of motor, sensory, and FIM scores at admission showed significant improvement in all of the patients during the follow-up period (P < 0.0001). Five incompletely injured cases improved with regard to ASIA staging. Motor and FIM scores significantly increased at follow-up for converted and unconverted patients. All parameters increased at follow-up in patients who were complete and incomplete. Motor scores significantly increased at discharge and at follow-up. FIM scores also increased significantly at follow-up in incomplete patients. Conclusion. Motor, sensory, and FIM scores increased in patients with SCI after a follow-up period of 18 months. Improvement to a higher ASIA stage could be accomplished by 25% of the patients. Although both complete and incomplete patients recovered significantly at the follow-up period, only incompletely injured cases could convert to a higher ASIA stage.

Key Words: Spinal cord injury • Rehabilitation • ASIA scale • Functional independence measures • Neurological recovery

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Vol. 19, No. 4, 332-337 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1545968305280210
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