•Contusion (bruised) injuries Same as any other tissue, a blunt injury to the spinal cord leads to a contusion type injury.
•The cord is surrounded completely inside the bony spinal canal. Any sudden movement or impact can cause the cord to slam against the spinal canal, crushing the meninges and suffering the contusion injury itself.
•Since the cord tissue is very soft, fragile and highly vascular; such an injury would most like result in significant haemorrhage. As the haemorrhage clots and settles in the tissue, it presses and crushes the cord tissue causing further injury.
•Contusion injury usually is incomplete but the injury may extend across many spinal segments causing extensive functional loss.
•Injuries without significant vertebral fractures such as whiplash injury, may result in contusion of the cord.