Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2007 , Vol 53 , Num 1

Osteoporosis and its Treatment in a Patient with Spinal Cord Injury: A Case Report

Figen Yılmaz 1 ,Füsun Şahin 2 ,Hülya Akbaş 3 ,Banu KURAN 4
1 Şişli Etfal Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Kliniği, İstanbul
2 Pamukkale Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Denizli, Türkiye
3 fiiflli Etfal Eğitim ve Arafltırma Hastanesi Fizik Tedavi ve Rehabilitasyon Kliniği, ‹stanbul, Türkiye
4 Clinic of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Şişli Etfal Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey

One of the complications of spinal cord injuries is osteoporosis. Though its mechanism is not very well understood, it is known that decrease in biomechanical loading on skeletal system and levels of insulin-like growth factor, and the resultant resistance to this factor are involved in the development of osteoporosis in spinal cord injuries. Increased risk of fracture owing to the development of osteoporosis in patients with spinal cord injuries is also worth mentioning. Therefore preventive measures against the development of osteoporosis must be taken immediately after the traumatic incident. The patient and his/her intimates must also be conscious of this issue. If the development of osteoporosis can not be prevented despite all measures taken, its treatment must be initiated at once, and these patients must be followed-up closely. In this article a 45 year-old male osteoporotic patient who developed osteoporotic lower extremity fractures on 2 occasions and had been under our surveillance after an incident of spinal cord injury is presented. 

Keywords : Osteoporosis, fracture, spinal cord injury, treatment