question about paralyzed child??

[feebebe23]

In a previous post I talked about a friend of mine that has been in a terrible car accident. The 4 yo son has been diagnosed quadripalygic.(forgive my spelling)

The most recent news was that during his first PT he experienced pain in both his legs.....now I would NEVER want to take away anyones hope....but is this normal.....is this a sign that he may recover??

I don't think a doctor would tell a family that their son was paralyzed from the neck down without feeling sure of the diagnosis....but yes I know miricles happen everyday. And I believe they already have 2 spinal surgeries they are planning on.....

Any PICU nurses out there see children recover from something like this....does pain mean that there are some nurons firing???

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

There are different types of spinal cord injuries.

Unless the spinal cord was completely and totally transected (and it rarely is), some patients may still have some function or sensation below the break. There can also be phantom pain - in patients that have had an amputation, they often "feel pain" in the missing limb, despite it being gone.

As far as spinal cord breaks go , think of a green tree branch - it rarely just completely snaps, but usually part of it breaks under stress. Parts of the branch breaks, parts of the structure gets stretched and damaged - some of that structure can still work while part of it will never totally the same. Determining how/if it can be recovered is a difficult and longterm process.

If there was not a complete transection, PT may be trying to determine what function/sensation is still present and what use it may be to the Pt.

[beachmom]

I knew a quadriplegic man who had total feeling in his body but no movement at all. He said after his accident he was numb, but the feeling came back at some point.