Spinal cord injury

Etiology / Pathophysiology

• Trauma, compression, ischemia, or disease injures spinal cord pathways.
• Motor, sensory, and autonomic pathways below the injury are impaired.

Medications

No specific medication class was seeded for this card.

Nursing actions

• Protect airway and spinal alignment during acute care.
• Monitor for neurogenic shock, spinal shock, and autonomic dysreflexia risk.
• Assess motor/sensory level, bladder, bowel, skin, and DVT prevention needs.

Complications

• Respiratory compromise with high cervical injury
• Neurogenic shock
• Autonomic dysreflexia
• Pressure injury

NCLEX cues

• Bradycardia and hypotension after spinal injury suggest neurogenic shock.
• Pounding headache with high BP later suggests autonomic dysreflexia.

Memory hooks

• High cord injury means breathing and autonomic control.

Labs / Diagnostics

• Trend assessment findings and ordered diagnostics; verify exact values with school source material.

Review notes

• Session-derived study seed. Verify against school materials, ATI/NCLEX review sources, current orders, and facility policy before relying on details.