What is the “neurological level of injury”?

Author: SCIRE Community Team | Reviewers: Shannon Sproule , Tova Plashkes , Amrit Dhaliwal | Published: 17 February 2017 | Updated: 26 March 2024

Neurological level of injury is the lowest level of the spinal cord that has normal function, which is confirmed using strength and sensation tests. Level of injury is an important classification that, together with whether the injury is complete or incomplete, can be used to describe how much physical function a person is likely to have.

Although not specifically describing level of injury,

tetraplegia

and

paraplegia

are terms used to describe the extent of a spinal cord injury’s effects on the body.

Tetraplegia, or Quadriplegia, describes injuries that affect the cervical spinal cord and causes a partial or total loss of strength and sensation of the neck, trunk, arms and legs (all four limbs).

Paraplegia describes injuries that affect the thoracic, lumbar or sacral spinal cord and causes a partial or total loss of strength and sensation of the legs and trunk, without affecting the arms.