Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD Educational Pearls: What is Central Cord Syndrome (CCS)? Incomplete spinal cord injury caused by trauma that compresses the center of the cord More common in hyperextension injuries like falling and hitting the chin Usually happens only in individuals with preexisting neck and spinal cord conditions like cervical spondylosis (age-related wear and tear of the cervical spine) Anatomy of spinal cord Motor tracts The signals the brain sends for the muscles to move travel in the corticospinal tracts of the spinal cord The tracts that control the upper limbs are more central than the ones that control the lower limbs The tracts that control the hands are more central than the ones that control the upper arm/shoulder Fine touch, vibration, and proprioception (body position) tracts These sensations travel in separate tracts in the spinal cord than the sensation of pain and temperature Their pathway is called the dorsal column-medial lemniscus (DCML) pathway