F.A. Davis Company

One of the world’s leading authorities in spinal cord injury, and a participant in the Human Brain Project brings you an evidenced-based guide to the state-of-the-art in spinal cord rehabilitation. She has assembled an expert team of clinicians, each with expertise in the content areas they address. Their work encompasses all of the new scientific knowledge and technological advances practitioners need to know to determine the most effective rehabilitation interventions for each patient and to attain maximum restoration of function in individuals with SCI.

• Offers guidance to interpret the ever-changing research literature and to assess clinical trials.
• Discusses how neural circuitry changes as a consequence of SCI, how neural activity may be used to predict prognosis, and what interventions might aid in restoration of appropriate neural organization.
• Identifies individuals who might benefit from implanted systems for electrical stimulation to assist with a wide variety of functions, as well as the limitations of these devices.
• Provide a stepwise guide for assessing motor, sensory, and functional status.
• Describes the skills and techniques that facilitate the use of available motor capacity for maximum function.
• Outlines the role of intensive, task-specific training to improve arm and hand function and techniques to promote locomotor function.
• Offers techniques to improve ventilation for patient with tetraplegia, promote bowel and bladder health, and develop a structured exercise program to enhance physical capacity and reduce the likelihood of cardiovascular complications.
• Addresses tools for assessing pain status and inventions to ameliorate it.
• Reviews the pharmacological interventions that may be used to control spasticity.
• Examines, in depth, pursuits beyond basis function and mobility, including classification and training of wheelchair athletes, adaptive devices and technology for activities of daily living, as well as advanced mobility and sexuality.

I. The Frontiers of Applied Science

1. The History of Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation
2. Translating Animal Research to Humans with SCI
3. Plasticity following SCI
4. Contemporary Experimental Procedures for Individuals with SCI
5. Neuroprosthetics

II. Promoting Maximal Restoration of Function

1. Assessment of Function
2. Transfers and Mobility
3. Seating and Wheelchair Prescription
4. Upper extremity Function
5. Locomotor Function
6. Respiratory Function
7. Bowel & Bladder Function
8. Cardiovascular Health
9. Pain Sources and Management
10. Spasticity Management

III. Beyond Basic Function

1. Wheelchair Sports and Athletics
2. Adapted Driving
3. Sexuality after SCI
4. Restoration of Fertility
5. Adaptive Technology