Question
I have a patient who has Anterior cord syndrome from a MVA 2/9/07.  Two weeks ago he began to get trace motor return only on the left side of his body.  Strength on that side is improving and all extremity muscle groups on that side, excluding biceps and triceps, have some trace contractions. Motor regain appeared to be distal to proximal as the feet and fingers were the first to become active and the hip is just beginning to some activation. Nothing on the right side.  Can you explain this type of recovery and any suggestions to optimize recovery for this patient?

Answer
Because every spinal cord injury is unique, it is impossible to determine who will recover, how much they will recover, or how long it will take.  As a result, there are really no explanations for these types of recovery. It appears in this case that the person is beginning to come out of spinal cord shock/swelling which typically lasts for weeks after trauma.

Having said that, I feel that the more stimulus that you can give the individual, the better the chances of recovery.  Range of motion exercises, massage, upper body weight training and cardiovascular exercises are all good therapies to try.  This is the practice followed by Dr. John McDonald, one of Christopher Reeve's physician, in using electrical stimulation to help regain motor and sensory function in spinal cord injured patients with injuries dating back over 15 years.

Thank you for your question, Coral.  I hope my answer has given you some help.