Management of cervical spine injuries in athletes.

Trauma to the spinal column may cause a variety of clinical syndromes depending on the type and severity of the impact and bony displacement as well as secondary insults such as hemorrhage, ischemia, and edema. Complete spinal cord injury results in a transverse myelopathy, with total loss of spinal function below the level of the lesion. This insult is caused by either anatomic disruption of the spinal cord or hemorrhagic or ischemic injury at the site of injury. Complete injury patterns are rarely reversible, although, with long-term follow-up, improvement of one spinal level may be seen as a result of resolution of initial segmental traumatic cord swelling.