Is this injury scenario possible?

Question

Okay so I'm going to explain my question in steps, first giving a scenario.

1. A person gets shot in the back, near but not touching the spinal cord

2. It is necessary to remove it but they don't have the environment to remove it so it gets infected

3. Can the infection spread to the spinal cord causing paralysis?

4. If so then what sort of infection would it be exactly and medical data would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Answer 1

So the infection is in the soft tissue near the spine, right?

The infection spreads to more and more surrounding tissue but the cord itself is a closed system, surrounded by the capsule, itself surrounded by vertebral bones and discs, etc. The pain would become severe in the back muscles/tendons and also the nerves that are coming out of the spinal canal would be affected. This pain would become so severe that the person won't be able to move around because of it. By the time infection itself gets into the cord area this patient would not be doing well at all.

You ask about what sort of infection this would be, and I assume that you mean what type of bacteria would it be. The question is, what was on the bullet or what bacteria was on the victims clothing/skin when the bullet passed through and into the body. Impossible to say. The wound would have to be cultured to see what specific bugs were growing.

Answer 2

It would be possible for this scenario to result in paralysis due to transverse myelitis.

Inflammation of the spinal cord can cause a neurological disorder called transverse myelitis (TM).  ÃƒÂ¢Ã‚€ÂœTransverse" describes where the inflammation occurs—across the width of one segment of the spinal cord—while “myelitis" refers to the inflammation of the spinal cord itself.

When the spinal cord becomes inflamed, myelin, and insulating material that covers nerve cell fibers, is destroyed. This causes scars, which disrupt communication between the nerves in the spinal cord and the rest of the body.

Symptoms of TM

The main symptom of TM is loss of spinal cord function over a period of several hours to several weeks. TM may begin with relatively minor back pain, progress to muscle weakness and odd feelings in the toes and feet, and can rapidly become more severe, eventually resulting in paralysis.

Causes of TM

While no one is sure what causes TM, there are many hypotheses. Possible causes include:

    * Viral infections, often due to the viruses that cause Chicken Pox and Shingles

    * Viral infections due to herpes simplex, Epstein-Barr, influenza, HIV, hepatits A, or rubella

    * Bacterial skin infections (your case)

    * Middle ear infections

    * Bacterial pneumonia

    * Abnormal immune reactions

    * Poor blood flow through the blood vessels in the spinal cord

    * A complication from syphilis, measles, Lyme disease, and some vaccinations

Treatment of TM

There is no cure for TM, so symptoms are managed with the intent of keeping inflammation at bay. Patients with paralysis will often enter rehabilitation. Some people will completely recover from TM, while others will experience long-term disability.