Spinal Cord Injuries & Quad Rugby By John Montes The spinal cord is a long, tube-like band of tissue. It connects your brain to your lower back. Your spinal cord carries nerve signals from your brain to your body and vice versa. These nerve signals help you feel sensations and move your body. Any damage to your spinal cord can affect your movement or function. What is the purpose of the spinal cord? •Control body movements and functions. Signals from your brain to other body parts control your movements. They also direct autonomic (involuntary) functions like your breathing rate and heartbeat, as well as bowel and bladder function. •Report senses to your brain. Signals from other parts of your body help your brain record and process sensations like pressure or pain. •Manage your reflexes. Your spinal cord controls some reflexes (involuntary movements) without involving your brain. For example, your spinal cord manages your patellar reflex Statistics According to the 2020 SCI Data Sheet from the National SCI Statistical Center (NSCISC): General Statistics •Approximately 17,810 new spinal cord injuries each year in the USA. •Males account for about 78% of new SCI cases. •Approximately 294,000 people with SCI live in the United States with a range of 250,000 to 368,000 persons. •Average age at the time of injury is 43 years old currently. •Lengths of stay in the hospital acute care unit have declined to 11 days currently. •Lengths of stay in rehabilitation have declined to 31 days currently. Types of SCI? Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury When an injury is incomplete, the spinal cord’s ability to carry messages to or from the brain is not completely lost. Often some sensation and movement remains below the level of injury. Complete Spinal Cord Injury In a complete spinal cord injury there is loss of sensation and motor function below the level of injury. Complete injuries are the most devastating and present with greater functional loss than an incomplete injury at a similar cord level. Tetraplegia or Quadriplegia These terms generally describe the condition of a person with a spinal cord injury in the cervical region. This individual can experience a loss of feeling and/or movement in their head, neck, shoulder, arms and/or chest, stomach, hips, legs, and feet. Paraplegia A general term describing the condition of a person who has lost feeling and/or is not able to move the lower parts of his/her body. The body parts that may be affected are the chest, stomach, hips, legs, and feet. Any thoracic level injury will cause paraplegia. Poliomyelitis •Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. •The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis (can’t move parts of the body). Most people who get infected with poliovirus will not have any visible symptoms. About 1 out of 4 people (or 25 out of 100) with poliovirus infection will have flu-like symptoms that can include: A smaller proportion of people with poliovirus infection will develop other, more serious symptoms that affect the brain and spinal cord. SPINA BIFIDA Spina bifida is a birth defect that mainly affects the spine. Normally in the first month of pregnancy, a special set of cells forms the “neural tube.” The top of the tube becomes the brain and the remainder becomes the spinal cord and structures around it. In spina bifida, the neural tube doesn’t close all the way and some of the bones of the spine don’t close in the back. SCOLIOSIS is an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine. It is most often diagnosed in childhood or early adolescence. Scoliosis affects 2-3 percent of the population, or an estimated six to nine million people in the United States. Scoliosis can develop in infancy or early childhood. However, the primary age of onset for scoliosis is 10-15 years old, occurring equally among both genders. Females are eight times more likely to progress to a curve magnitude that requires treatment ORTHOPEDIC DEVICES ADAPTIVE ACTIVITIES • • • • • • • • Rugby Basketball Track and Field Swimming Dancing Golf Hand Cycling Tennis Quad RUGBY What is it? Originally called Murder Ball Cross between Basketball, Ice Hockey, and Rugby Played on regulation sized basketball court Four players compete on each side Mobility classifications Sum of points Who Can Play? • Must have a combination of upper and lower body extremity impairment • Classification ranges from 0.5 to 3.5 with (0.5 being the highest impairment) • Coed play History •Developed in Winnipeg, Manitoba •Brad Mikkelson through the University of North Dakotas Disabled Student Services, bought the sport to the USA in 1981 •The Mikkelson Cup – North America Quad Rugby Championship •USQRA – formed to regulate and promote the sport both nationally and internationally •Formed in 1998 •Debut 1996, Atlanta Paralympics Equipment •Regulation size basketball court •Volleyball •Rugby Wheelchair •Gloves Rules player has 15 seconds to advance the ball into the opponents half court Fouls are assessed, and penalties can include the warding of a goal, a timed penalty, or a turnover A player the ball has unrestricted pushes or dribble the ball every 10 seconds or a turnover is awarded 1 goal = 1 point Full contact but no physical contact Games are four 8-minute quarters 4 timeouts for each team, plus 1 extra for each overtime played 10 Seconds: Players must dribble or pass or it’s a turnover 12 Seconds: Ball must be advanced over half-court or it’s a turnover 10 Seconds: Ball must be inbounded or it’s a turnover 40 Seconds: Teams must score after the ball is inbounded or it’s a turnover 10 Seconds: Offensive player cannot be in the key longer or it’s a turnover Only three defenders are allowed in the key at one time or it’s a penalty. Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= D9ZrdDh7wJc http://www.wheelchairrugbyready.com/?module=1&section=4&subsection=48&page=78 https://www.academia.edu/1164835/Spinal_cord_injury_medicine_1_Epidemiology_and_classification?auto=citations&from=cover_page https://www.sonoranspine.com/blog/item/types-of-spine-injuries Citations • Spinal cord: Function, anatomy and structure. (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/21946-spinal-cord • Spinal cord injury: Hope through research. (n.d.). National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/healthinformation/patient-caregiver-education/hope-through-research/spinal-cord-injury-hope-through-research#diganosed • SpinalCord.com. (n.d.). Living with paraplegia: Recovery, treatments, exercises, and more. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.spinalcord.com/paraplegia#Diagnosis-forParaplegia • Statistics information - The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. (2020, May 27). The Miami Project. https://www.themiamiproject.org/resources/statistics/ • What is cervical spinal cord injury? (n.d.). Shepherd Center. Retrieved September 28, 2022, from https://www.shepherd.org/patient-programs/spinal-cord-injury/levels-and-types/CervicalSpinal-Cord-Injury • What is Spinal Cord Injury/Disorder (SCI/D)? (2019, September 23). United Spinal Association. https://unitedspinal.org/what-is-spinal-cord-injury-disorder-scid/ • Winnick, J. P. (2011). Adapted physical education and sport. Human Kinetics.
