Abstract
Spinal cord lesions are the result of many etiological factors and are associated with motor, sensorial and autonomic dysfunctions. The subjects evaluated were a total of 217 paraplegics and quadriplegics who had been enrolled in a rehabilitation program during the last five years conducted by the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. Forty-three of these patients were in the pediatric age group. In this clinical trial, the patients with spinal cord injuries were examined according to their age, sex, etiological factors and functional status. Frankel's scale was used for functional assessment. The mean age of patients was 9.19 +/- 4.19 years and varied between 1-16 years. The results of our classification according to etiological factors were as follows: Nineteen patients with tumors (44.1%), nine patients with infections (20.93%), five patients with congenital abnormalities (11.63%), five patients with vascular lesions (11.63%), four patients with trauma (9.30%), and one patient with a degenerative central nervous system disorder (2.32%). The effect of the rehabilitation program on the functional status of the patients is discussed.