| Objective: To study the characteristics of pulmonary function and diaphragm movement in patients with spinal cord injury of different levels. Methods: All 105 patients with spinal cord injury in our hospital were studied. Forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1), forced expiratory vital capacity (FVC), maximal ventilatory volume (MVV), vital capacity (VC) and diaphragmatic motion (amplitude of movement of the right septum when breathing peacefully and forcefully) were analyzed. The correlation between pulmonary function and gender, age, smoking history, injury level, injury degree, ASIA sensory/motor score, diaphragm range of motion was analyzed. Results: There were significant differences in VC, FVC, MVV and FEV1 (P<0.05). There was significant difference in the motion amplitude of right diaphragm and the ASIA sensory/motor score (P<0.05). Regression analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between pulmonary function decline and injury level, injury degree, diaphragm movement, ASIA sensory/motor score, sex, smoking history (P<0.05). Conclusion: There are different degrees of pulmonary dysfunction in patients with spinal cord injury (especially in patients with cervical spinal cord injury) , but injury level, injury degree, ASIA motion score and diaphragm movement are important indexes which affect the lung function of patients with spinal cord injury. |
