The nerve planes of spinal cord injury need to be determined by a combination of motor and sensory and some imaging tests on both sides of the body.
The neural plane of spinal cord injury refers to the lowest spinal cord segment with normal motor and sensory function on both sides of the body, and the sensory and motor function above this plane is completely normal. The nerve plane of spinal cord injury is mainly based on the motor injury plane, but the motor injury plane of the second thoracic spine segment T2 to the first lumbar spine segment L1 segment is difficult to determine, and is mainly based on the sensory injury plane.
The motor injury plane and sensory injury plane were determined by checking the unarmed muscle strength of the key muscles and the pain and light touch sensation of the key sensory points. The key sensory points are: three centimeters behind the ear in the second segment of the cervical spine, the dorsal skin of the proximal thumb in the sixth segment of the cervical spine, and the level of the raphe in the sixth segment of the thoracic spine.
The key muscles are: elbow flexors such as biceps brachii in the fifth cervical vertebra, elbow extensors such as triceps brachii in the seventh cervical vertebra, and so on.
In addition to sensory and motor examination, an MRI can be performed to directly visualize the segments that are edematous from the spinal cord injury.
It should be noted that spinal cord injuries should be seen in a regular hospital as soon as possible to avoid delays in treatment.