The most common cause of spinal cord injury is a damaged or broken back or neck (i.e., damage to the bony spinal column that surrounds the spinal cord). This often results in damage to the nerves of the spinal cord inside the spinal column. This is known as ‘traumatic’ injury. Traumatic injury may be caused by:
- road traffic accidents
- domestic and work-related accidents
- sports injuries
- self-harm and assault
- complications following surgery e.g., corrective surgery for spinal deformity.
SCI can also be caused by so-called ‘non-traumatic’ injury. Examples include:
- Infection of the spinal nerve cells (bacterial and viral)
- cysts or tumours pressing on the spinal cord
- interruption of the blood supply to the spinal cord (causing cord damage)
- congenital medical conditions (i.e. present since birth) that affect the structure of the spinal column e.g., spina bifida.
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