Roughly 250,000 Americans have spinal cord injuries (SCIs), and approximately 11,000 new injuries occur each year. SCI injuries are most commonly caused by vehicular accidents (37%), violence (28%), falls (21%), sports (6%), and other causes (8%). The most rapidly increasing cause of injury is violence. These injuries typically result in an incomplete loss of somatic, sensory, and autonomic function below the level of injury. Lesions in the cervical region typically result in quadriplegia; whereas injuries in the thoracic and lumbar regions lead to paraplegia. The degree of physical activity and deconditioning imposed by a spinal cord injury can strongly contrast the preinjury status of an individual, in which most persons tend to be relatively young and active.

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Injuries