PHYSIOTHERAPY APPROACH IN A PATIENT WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY: CASE REPORT

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Spinal cord injury (SCI) can be a fatal condition depending on its  severity, bringing important repercussions in the individual's life and its effects affect not  only the individual's life but also the family and society. In the rehabilitation of SCI  patients, a specific evaluation is extremely important, since the prognosis tends to vary  according to the level of the injury and the patient's functional independence; the  American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) scale and the Functional Independence  Measure (FIM) are the most commonly used tools for this patient profile. METHODOLOGY: This is a case study of a patient from the Clínica Escola de Ensino  de Fisioterapia of the Universidade Iguaçu (UNIG), Nova Iguaçu, RJ. The ASIA  neurological classification scale was used to assess the degree of spinal cord injury and  the FIM - Functional Independence Measure - was used to assess performance in motor,  cognitive and social domains. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In the reassessment of  the FIM scale, the final score was 100/126. The classification of the patient's injury  through the ASIA scale presented as incomplete injury with AIS grade D.  CONCLUSION: It is understood that a careful evaluation is essential, especially for this  patient profile, and the FIM and ASIA scales have shown to be important instruments in  this study to direct functional objectives and adapt the physiotherapeutic conduct to the  patient's individual needs.