Living With A Spinal Cord Injury: When To Call A Doctor

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When to Call a Doctor

There may be a time when you have a medical emergency and need to contact a health professional.

Be prepared to call your SCI therapist, 911 , or other emergency services if you or the person with the spinal cord injury (SCI) has the symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia, a syndrome characterized by a sudden onset of excessively high blood pressure. If you or a caregiver do not treat it promptly and correctly, it may lead to seizures, stroke, and even death. Symptoms include:

• A pounding headache.
• A flushed face and/or red blotches on the skin above the level of spinal injury.
• Sweating above the level of spinal injury.
• Nasal stuffiness.
• Nausea.
• A slow heart rate (bradycardia).
• Goose bumps below the level of spinal injury.
• Cold, clammy skin below the level of spinal injury.

Call 911 or other emergency services if you fall or have another accident where you hit yourself severely (trauma) and you notice:

• Swelling on a part of your body where you have no feeling or movement.
• Increased muscle spasms or other signs of spasticity.

Call your health professional immediately if you have symptoms of a urinary tract infection (UTI). These include:

• Fever and chills.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Headache.
• Reddish or pinkish urine.
• Foul-smelling urine.
• Cloudy urine.
• Increased muscle spasms or other signs of spasticity.

Depending on your level of injury, you may also feel burning while urinating, and/or pain or discomfort in the lower pelvic area, abdomen, or lower back.

Call your health professional immediately if you have the symptoms of pneumonia. These include:

• Fever of to .
• Shaking chills.
• Cough that often produces colored mucus from the lungs. Mucus may be rust-colored or green or tinged with blood. Older adults may have only a slight cough and no mucus.
• Rapid, often shallow, breathing.
• Chest wall pain, often made worse by coughing or deep breathing.
• Fatigue and feelings of weakness (malaise).
• Increased muscle spasms or other signs of spasticity.

Call your health professional for an appointment if you have a pressure sore and:

• The skin is broken.
• The sore has increased in size or is draining more.
• It has increased in redness, or black areas are starting to form.
• It starts to smell bad, and/or the drainage becomes a greenish color.
• You develop a fever.

Last updated:	February 22, 2007
Author:	Kathe Gallagher, MSW
Reviewed By:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine, Nancy Greenwald, MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Editors:	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC