Effect of age-related spinal degeneration on older adult spinal cord injuries

Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are becoming more prevalent in older adults, and the number of older adults is rapidly increasing. This is a challenge for healthcare professionals because the existing health issues and poor health of older adults may limit invasive surgical treatments. The most common form of SCI seen in older adults is caused by the neck extending beyond its typical range, damaging the spinal cord in a pattern that is different pattern than what is seen in younger adults. It is known that the risk of spinal cord injury and observed tissue damage is worsened by age-related degeneration in the spine; however, there is limited understanding of how these degenerative changes alter tissue damage caused by an SCI. The proposed study will consist of three objectives: (1) to measure the type and amount of degeneration typically found in older adults, (2) to simulate the spinal cord injury and use it to predict how tissue will be damaged (3) to predict how the tissue damage changes when the model includes spinal degeneration.