Causes


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Etiology (Causes) of Spinal Cord Disability in Arkansas Damage to the spinal cord is divided into traumatic and non-traumatic categories. Traumatic causes are injuries to the spinal cord which occur from an external force or mechanism. They usually occur at a specific time and place.  Non-traumatic causes are internal disease processes, birth abnormalities, tumors, degenerative disorders and other conditions which affect the spinal cord. They usually develop and degrade the spinal cord over an extended period of time. The tables below indicate the number and percent of traumatic and non-traumatic cases which were active on June 1, 2000. For both traumatic and non-traumatic cases a breakdown by etiology is given. A further analysis of traumatic etiologies is available on the SCI Statistics page. A Fact Sheet, providing more information, is available for many of the non-traumatic etiologies. On June 1, 2000 there were 2,134 active cases on the Arkansas Spinal Cord Disability Registry. Of the total 2,134 cases, 1,285 (60.2%) were traumatic cases and 849 (39.8%) were non-traumatic cases.