ABSTRACT
Most traumatic spinal cord injuries (TSCIs) in children are associated with long-term deficits. Rehabilitation begins in the intensive care setting. It includes addressing traumatic brain injuries (TBI)- and SCI-specific needs to help each injured child meet his/her potential in terms of medical, physical, social, emotional, recreational, vocational, and functional recovery. In the SCI population, rehabilitation professionals add the unique perspectives of longitudinal care to the patient's care team. These include, but are not limited to, expertise in individual mobility plans, spinal shock with implications, autonomic dysreflexia (AD), neurogenic bladder, neurogenic bowel, and functional prognostication. Acute inpatient rehabilitation is another part of the spectrum of rehabilitation for the child with injuries. In the acute inpatient rehabilitation setting, medical management and education in a child with a TSCI can be predominantly divided into two areas: those dependent on the level of injury (AD and respiratory compromise) and those independent of level of injury (neurogenic bladder, neurogenic bowel, pressure ulcers, and spasticity).
