Spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused by injury to or compression of the spinal cord and / or arteries that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the spinal cord. The causes can be categorized as either traumatic or non-traumatic.
Most common traumatic SCI causes include:
- Motor vehicle accidents (car, motorcycle)
- Gunshot
- Stabbing (knife wounds)
- Falling
- Diving into a shallow pool
- Gymnastics injuries
- Being thrown off while horseback riding
- Football injuries
- Hockey injuries
- Bicycle accidents
Non-traumatic SCI causes include:
- Arachnoiditis
- Ischemia (restricted blood flow)
- Spina bifida
- Spinal ataxia (hereditary disease affecting the neuromuscular system)
- Spinal cysts, tumors
- Spinal fracture caused by osteoporosis
- Spinal stenosis
- Spondylosis
- Transverse myelitis (rare) (inflammation of the spinal cord)
- Vascular malformations (malformations in the blood supply system), such as arteriovenous malformations or spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas
