A Case of Spinal Cord Injury
Author(s)
Abstract
“Jason Hendrix,” a 21-year-old student majoring in economics, is injured in a serious motorcycle accident while on spring break in Florida. Students read the short case scenario, which provides a brief clinical history of the patient and a description of his injury, then answer a set of directed questions designed to probe the students’ knowledge of the anatomy, physiology, and pathology underlying the patient’s condition. The case study has been used in both a sophomore-level course in human anatomy and physiology and a senior-level course in general physiology.
Objectives
- Learn the definitions of the terms tetraplegia and paraplegia, and the term neurological level as it relates to spinal cord injury (SCI).
- Learn the definition of the term dermatome and how it relates to normal function of the spinal cord as well as the localization of the site of SCI.
- Learn the definition of the term myotome and how myotomes are used to localize the site of SCI.
- Learn the definition of the term stretch reflex, and how the examination of such reflexes is used to localize the site of SCI.
- Learn how cases of SCI are managed.
Keywords
Nervous system; acute spinal cord injury; spine; tetraplegia; paraplegia; dermatome; myotome; stretch reflex; spinal reflexTopical Areas
N/AEducational Level
Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper divisionFormat
PDFType / Methods
DirectedLanguage
EnglishSubject Headings
Physiology | Anatomy | Neuroscience | Medicine (General) |
Date Posted
12/02/05Teaching Notes
Case teaching notes are password-protected and access to them is limited to paid subscribed instructors. To become a paid subscriber, begin the process by registering.
Teaching notes are intended to help teachers select and adopt a case. They typically include a summary of the case, teaching objectives, information about the intended audience, details about how the case may be taught, and a list of references and resources.
Answer Key
Answer keys for the cases in our collection are password-protected and access to them is limited to paid subscribed instructors. To become a paid subscriber, begin the process by registering.