Essentials of Spinal Cord Medicine

This compact text is designed to be a practical, concise guide for clinicians involved in the care of patients with spinal cord injuries and disorders. It covers a comprehensive and diverse list of topics relating to the principles and practice of spinal cord injury care including basic science fundamentals, traumatic spinal cord injury, non-traumatic myelopathies, physical function and rehabilitation, medical consequences and complications of spinal cord injury, psychosocial and quality of life issues, and systems-based practice. Each chapter will follow a set format and review underlying pathophysiology and etiology, assessment (examination, testing, differential diagnosis, prognosis, risk factors), management (non-pharmacological, medications, surgical procedures, follow-up and monitoring, primary and secondary prevention, complications, practice pearls) and conclude with a brief summary of recent clinical advances/promising research. Dr. Sabharwal plans to write many of the chapters himself and enlist a small number of expert contributors from leading centers to ensure uniformity of style but diversity of experience.