Spinal cord injury rehabilitation

Overview

People who have recently had a spinal cord injury (SCI) may experience many emotions, such as fear or anxiety. Many people may need spinal cord injury rehabilitation to adapt to a new way of life after a spinal cord injury. Mayo Clinic's spinal cord injury rehabilitation team works to meet your ongoing needs, provide emotional support, improve your physical and mental functioning, and help you to successfully re-enter your community.

In spinal cord injury rehabilitation, the rehabilitation team treats people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and nontraumatic spinal disorders, including spinal cord tumors, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, multiple sclerosis, myelopathies, spinal cord infarctions and aneurysms.

The Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota offers many specialty services, including:

• Spasticity management
• Upper extremity functional restoration
• Wheelchair and Seating Clinic
• Locomotor training and robot-assisted gait training
• Diaphragm pacing system
• Assistive technology and adaptive equipment
• Functional electrical stimulation
• Sexuality, fertility and pregnancy education and counseling
• Neurogenic bladder and bowel management
• Community re-entry and recreation therapy
• Patient and family support and peer mentoring
• Comprehensive patient and family education

Why choose Mayo Clinic for spinal cord injury

• Experience. Mayo Clinic doctors and staff have helped thousands of people recover from traumatic spinal cord injuries and nontraumatic spinal disorders. The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) has accredited the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Program at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
• Integrated team. Mayo Clinic's spinal cord injury rehabilitation team is led by doctors trained in physical medicine and rehabilitation, doctors trained in bone and muscle surgery (orthopedic surgeons), and doctors trained in brain and nervous system surgery (neurosurgeons). Your treatment team also includes nurses, doctors trained in mental health (psychologists), social workers, physical, occupational and recreational therapists, and other specialists.
• Individualized care. You and your rehabilitation team will create an individualized treatment plan to meet your needs and achieve your goals. You and your family are considered an integral part of the treatment team involved in making decisions, setting treatment goals and planning your discharge arrangements.
• Treatment and follow-up care. Mayo Clinic doctors trained in physical medicine and rehabilitation and other staff offer a full range of spinal cord injury rehabilitation services for you, from intensive hospital care to continued care through your lifetime. Your spinal cord injury rehabilitation team provides inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation and lifelong care. Pediatric specialists trained in physical medicine and rehabilitation care for children with spinal cord injuries at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
• Research. Mayo Clinic researchers study outcomes, rehabilitation options and potential treatments for people with spinal cord injuries and conduct clinical trials.
• Advanced technology. Mayo Clinic staff use advanced technology in diagnostic tests and treatments, including robot-assisted gait training, functional electrical stimulation and other options.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is ranked among the Best Hospitals for rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report.

Mayo Clinic: Answers you can trust

At Mayo Clinic, we assemble a team of specialists who take the time to listen and thoroughly understand your health issues and concerns. We tailor the care you receive to your personal health care needs. You can trust our specialists to collaborate and offer you the best possible outcomes, safety and service.

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical institution that reinvests all earnings into improving medical practice, research and education. We're constantly involved in innovation and medical research, finding solutions to improve your care and quality of life. Your doctor or someone on your medical team is likely involved in research related to your condition.

Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care — and trusted answers — like they've never experienced.

Why Choose Mayo Clinic
What Sets Mayo Clinic Apart

Read more about diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord injury.