Causes of a Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is caused by injury to or compression of the spinal cord and / or arteries that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the spinal cord. The causes can be categorized as either traumatic or non-traumatic.

Most common traumatic SCI causes include:

• Motor vehicle accidents (car, motorcycle)
• Gunshot
• Stabbing (knife wounds)
• Falling
• Diving into a shallow pool
• Gymnastics injuries
• Being thrown off while horseback riding
• Football injuries
• Hockey injuries
• Bicycle accidents

Non-traumatic SCI causes include:

• Arachnoiditis
• Ischemia (restricted blood flow)
• Spina bifida
• Spinal ataxia (hereditary disease affecting the neuromuscular system)
• Spinal cysts, tumors
• Spinal fracture caused by osteoporosis
• Spinal stenosis
• Spondylosis
• Transverse myelitis (rare) (inflammation of the spinal cord)
• Vascular malformations (malformations in the blood supply system), such as arteriovenous malformations or spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas