Drugs and Medications Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury treatment focuses on preventing further injury and empowering people with a spinal cord injury to return to an active and productive life.
Early (acute) stages of treatment

In the emergency room, doctors focus on:

Maintaining your ability to breathe

Preventing shock

Immobilizing your neck to prevent further spinal cord damage
Avoiding possible complications, such as stool or urine retention, respiratory or cardiovascular difficulty and formation of deep vein blood clots in the extremities

You may be sedated so that you don't move and sustain more damage while undergoing diagnostic tests for spinal cord injury.
If you do have a spinal cord injury, you'll usually be admitted to the intensive care unit for treatment. You may even be transferred to a regional spine injury center that has a team of neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, spinal cord medicine specialists, psychologists, nurses, therapists and social workers with expertise in spinal cord injury.

Medications. Intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone (A-Methapred, Solu-Medrol) is a treatment option for an acute spinal cord injury. If methylprednisolone is given within eight hours of injury, some people experience mild improvement.

It appears to work by reducing damage to nerve cells and decreasing inflammation near the site of injury. However, it's not a cure for a spinal cord injury.
Immobilization. You may need traction to stabilize your spine, to bring the spine into proper alignment or both. In some cases, a rigid neck collar may work. A special bed also may help immobilize your body.

Surgery. Often surgery is necessary to remove fragments of bones, foreign objects, herniated disks or fractured vertebrae that appear to be compressing the spine. Surgery may also be needed to stabilize the spine to prevent future pain or deformity.

Medications
Medications may be used to manage some of the effects of spinal cord injury. These include medications to control pain and muscle spasticity, as well as medications that can improve bladder control, bowel control and sexual functioning.

Modern wheelchairs. Improved, lighter weight wheelchairs are making people with a spinal cord injury more mobile and more comfortable. For some, an electric wheelchair may be needed. Some wheelchairs can even climb stairs, travel over rough terrain and elevate a seated passenger to eye level to reach high places without help.

Electrical stimulation devices. These sophisticated devices use electrical stimulation to produce actions. They're often called functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems, and they use electrical stimulators to control arm and leg muscles to allow people with a spinal cord injury to stand, walk, reach and grip.


Robotic gait training. This emerging technology is used for retraining walking ability after spinal cord injury.