Spinal Injury is any injury of any part of the spinal column from the base of the skull to the tailbone (coccyx). The spinal column consists of bones (vertebrae), the ligaments and discs between them and the spinal cord, which is a cylindrical bundle of nerve fibres and associated tissue which is enclosed in the spine and connects nearly all parts of the body to the brain.
The main risk with spinal injury is damage to the spinal cord – spinal cord injury. But it is possible to have significant spinal injury without spinal cord injury.
Some spinal injury is stable, with no risk of spinal cord injury. But where the spinal injury in unstable, this usually requires surgery or immobilisation for several weeks or both.
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