Classification
Spinal cord injuries are classified as complete and incomplete by the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) classification. The ASIA scale grades patients based on their functional impairment as a result of the injury, grading a patient from A to D. (see table 1 for criteria) This has considerable consequences for surgical planning and therapy.
Table 1: ASIA impairment scale
| A | Complete | no motor or sensory function is preserved in the sacral segments S4-S5. |
| B | Incomplete | sensory but not motor function is preserved below the neurological level and includes the sacral segments S4-S5. |
| C | Incomplete | Incomplete: motor function is preserved below the neurological level, and more than half of key muscles below the neurological level have a muscle grade less than 3. |
| D | Incomplete | Incomplete: motor function is preserved below the neurological level, and at least half of key muscles below the neurological level have a muscle grade of 3 or more. |
| E | Normal | motor and sensory function are normal. |
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