ASIA Impairment Scale

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Peer-reviewed fact sheets and videos designed to help people living with spinal cord injuries manage daily care and maximize independence by medical and clinical experts in SCI care, patient education, and research. Information provided undergoes systematic review from medical experts to ensure accuracy and currency with best-practice research.

Sources include the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab’s LIFE Center and the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center which both provide fact sheets on topics specific to spinal cord injury – anatomy and physiology, nerve function, and levels of injury. Understand common terms such as paraplegia, quadriplegia, tetraplegia, complete and incomplete injuries.

Discover best-practice techniques in mobility and safe transfers, information on bowel and bladder function, surgical alternatives for bladder management, skin care and pressure sores, respiratory health, autonomic dysreflexia, spasticity, and pain management. Find additional information on maintenance of manual and power wheelchairs, exercise after spinal cord injury, options for adaptive sports and recreation, tips to minimize depression, and adjustment to life after spinal cord injury.   

Fact sheets to support social and emotional wellness include topics on sexuality, dating and relationships, employment and education, peer support, and managing caregiver stress.

ASIA Impairment Scale The ASIA impairment scale classifies motor and sensory impairment that results from a Spinal Cord Injury.  It divides spinal cord injuries into 5 categories, A-E, with optional clinical syndromes. The ASIA Impairment scale is another helpful guide to understanding an injury, It was developed by doctors at the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) to categorize the extent of an injury in terms of the degree of damage to the spinal cord. If the injury is “complete,” (ASIA A) it means that no messages can travel across the location of the injury to the brain. However, “incomplete” injuries, which mean that some messages can still get through, are classified as ASIA B, ASIA C or ASIA D, depending on amount of movement and feeling that remain below the level of the injury.