Acute Medicine | Weakness and paralysis 06 knowledge A

Clinical Findings Associated with Spinal Cord Compression
Session Overview
Description
This session discusses the clinical findings associated with spinal cord compression.

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe the clinical findings associated with cord compression and Cauda Equina Syndrome

This session briefly revises the clinical findings in acute spinal cord compression.

There are two types of spinal cord compression to remember, both of which are medical emergencies:

• Cord compression
• Cauda equina compression (syndrome)

In the early stages of cord compression, patients may simply present with limb weakness and reduced reflexes.

Only later do patients with cord compression develop increased reflexes and up-going plantars. Many do not have an obvious sensory level on examination.

Cauda Equina Syndrome presents with mainly lower motor neuron signs.

So it is the overall context, clinical examination and suspicion that should lead you to the diagnosis, rather than a neat set of signs out of a textbook.