Spinal Cord Injury - Causes

Causes

Spinal cord injuries are most often traumatic, caused by lateral bending, dislocation, rotation, axial loading, and hyperflexion or hyperextension of the cord or cauda equina. Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause of SCIs, while other causes include falls, work-related accidents, sports injuries, and penetrations such as stab or gunshot wounds. SCIs can also be of a non-traumatic origin, as in the case of cancer, infection, intervertebral disc disease, vertebral injury and spinal cord vascular disease.

Men are at more risk for spinal cord injury than women. More than 80% of the spinal cord injury patients are men.