Physiological Assessment of Spinal Cord Injury

The severity of injury and degree of recovery following experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing several electrophysiological tests (SSEP, MEP, H-reflex) are described in other chapters. This chapter summarizes tests of spinal cord physiology, including spinal cord blood flow, spinal cord field potential mapping, EMG, and PO₂ monitoring of the spinal cord. Physiological assessment of the spinal cord provides objective evaluation of nonelectrophysiological importance that is of value in assessing responses to novel therapies following experimental SCI.