What is Paraplegia?

Paraplegia, sometimes called partial paralysis, is a form of paralysis in which function is

substantially impeded from the waist down. Most people with paraplegia have perfectly
healthy legs. Instead, the problem resides in either the brain or the spinal cord, which
cannot send or receive signals to the lower body due to an injury or disease.
Like other forms of paralysis, paraplegia substantially varies from one person to
another. While the stereotype of a paraplegic is of someone in a wheelchair who cannot
move his or her arms or legs, cannot feel anything below the waist, and cannot walk,
paraplegics actually have a range of capabilities that may change over time, both as
their health evolves and their physical therapy helps them learn to work around their
injuries.
What is Incomplete Paraplegia?
There may be occasions where paraplegia doesn’t fully affect both legs. For example,
one leg may be fully paralyzed, while the other has limited or even normal function. This
is sometimes known as “incomplete paraplegia,” and can be the result of many different
conditions.

In some cases, a case of complete paraplegia may evolve into a case of partial
paraplegia following rehabilitation therapy and other treatments for paraplegia. On the
other hand, a degenerative condition may cause a case of incomplete paraplegia to
become complete paraplegia as symptoms progress.

What is the Difference between Complete and Incomplete Paraplegia?

The primary difference between complete and incomplete paraplegia is whether the
paraplegic retains some (or most) of their functionality in either leg. Where a complete
paraplegic might not have any functionality or sensation in both legs, a case of
incomplete paraplegia may leave the paraplegic with some sensation or motor control.
What Causes Paraplegia?
The overwhelming majority of paraplegics have perfectly healthy legs. The problem
instead resides in the brain or spinal cord. The spinal cord is akin to the body's relay
system, sending signals down into the body from the brain and relaying signals from the
body to the brain. The brain processes and makes sense of these signals, before
sending important information about how to react and feel down the spinal cord and
back to the body.
When either the brain or spinal cord don't work properly, these signals may be weak or
nonexistent. Consequently, spinal cord injuries (SCIs)—which affect more than 200,000
Americans, with more than 2,500 new cases each year—are the leading cause of
paralysis, including paraplegia. According to data from the National Spinal Cord Injury
Statistical Center (NSCISC), the leading causes of spinal cord injuries include:
  Car and motorcycle accidents (38.3%)
 Falls (31.6%)
 Violence, the most common source of which is gunshot wounds (13.8%)
 Sports and recreational activities, with diving accidents leading the way (8.2%)
 Medical or surgical injuries (4.6%)
 Other/unspecified (3.5%)

Most spinal cord and brain injuries are traumatic in nature, which means they result
from a sudden blow to the area, usually due to an accident. Some injuries, though, are
non-traumatic, and usually attributable to diseases or genetic anomalies. A few other
causes of paraplegia include:

 Strokes, the most common cause of non-traumatic paraplegia.

 Genetic disorders, such as hereditary spastic paraplegia.
 Oxygen deprivation to the brain or spinal cord due to choking, childbirth
complications, and other injuries.
 Autoimmune disorders.
 Infections of the brain or spinal cord.
 Tumors, lesions, or cancer of the brain or spinal cord.
 Spinal cord disorders such as syrinx.

Most SCIs that result in paraplegia occur in the thoracic, sacral, or lumbar sections of
the spinal cord—not in the cervical spinal cord, which is closer to the neck. This is
because a C6 spinal cord injury or higher is likely to affect more of the body than just
the legs. Instead, this type of spinal injury is more likely to result in full-body paralysis,
hemiplegia, or hemiparesis.
Reference: Swope, Rodante P.A.,

As many as 500 000 people suffer a spinal cord injury each year. People with spinal
cord injuries are 2 to 5 times more likely to die prematurely, with worse survival rates
in low- and middle-income countries. The new WHO report, "International
perspectives on spinal cord injury", summarizes the best available evidence on the
causes, prevention, care and lived experience of people with spinal cord injury.
Males are most at risk of spinal cord injury between the ages of 20-29 years and 70
years and older, while females are most at risk between the ages of 15-19 years and
60 years and older. Studies report male to female ratios of at least 2:1 among adults.
Causes: 90% traumatic
Up to 90% of spinal cord injury cases are due to traumatic causes such as road
traffic crashes, falls and violence. Variations exist across regions. For example, road
traffic accidents are the main contributor to spinal cord injury in the African Region
(nearly 70% of cases) and the Western Pacific Region (55% of cases) and falls the
leading cause in the South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean Regions (40% of
cases). Non-traumatic spinal cord injury results from conditions such as tumours,
spina bifida, and tuberculosis. A third of non-traumatic spinal cord injury is linked to
tuberculosis in sub-Saharan Africa. Reference: World Health Organization