All articles starting with S

Spinal cord segments and vertebral levels

Spinal cord segments and vertebral levels do not align: the adult cord ends at L1–L2, so its 31 nerve segments sit higher than the vertebrae of the same name.

Spinal cord stimulation

Spinal cord stimulation is a neuromodulation therapy in which electrodes implanted in the epidural space deliver electrical pulses to the spinal cord to relieve chronic neuropathic pain.

Spinal cord stimulator (SCS): implanted epidural leads plus pulse generator treating chronic neuropathic pain refractory to medical management. Rooted in 1965 gate control theory; first implant 1967, Medtronic system 1968. Complications include infection and lead migration.

Spinal cord stimulator implantation

Spinal cord stimulator implantation is a surgical procedure that places a lead in the epidural space and a pulse generator under the skin to treat chronic neuropathic pain.

Spinal cord traction injury

A spinal cord traction injury is damage to the spinal cord caused by stretching rather than compression, occurring during spinal deformity surgery, delivery, or chronic tethered cord syndrome.

Spinal decompression

Spinal decompression is a family of surgical procedures that relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots by removing bone, ligament, or disc material.

Spinal deformities

Spinal deformities (ICD-11 FA70) are structural spinal alignment disorders: kyphosis, scoliosis, and lordosis. Key facts include Cobb angle thresholds, AIS prevalence of 1-3%, Hibbs' 1911 first fusion, and Harrington instrumentation.

Spinal dermal sinus

Spinal dermal sinus (dermal sinus tract, congenital spinal dermal sinus): a congenital epithelium-lined tract from the midline skin toward the spine, a closed neural tube defect and occult spinal dysraphism, risking meningitis, abscess, dermoid cysts, and tethered cord.

Spinal epidural arteriovenous malformation

A spinal epidural arteriovenous malformation is a rare vascular lesion in which spinal arteries connect directly to epidural veins, damaging the spinal cord through congestion or compression.

Spinal fixation

Spinal fixation is a surgical procedure that immobilizes segments of the spine with implants such as pedicle screws, rods, and cages to stabilize fractures and correct deformity.

Spinal fMRI

Spinal fMRI is a functional MRI method measuring spinal cord neural activity indirectly through task-evoked BOLD signals, first reported in the human cervical cord in 1996.

Spinal fusion

Spinal fusion, also known as spondylodesis, is surgery that permanently joins two or more vertebrae so no movement occurs between them, most often alongside decompression or diskectomy.

Spinal grey matter

Spinal gray matter is the central, butterfly- or H-shaped region of the spinal cord containing neuronal cell bodies, organized into ten Rexed laminae and surrounded by white matter.

Spinal Infusions

Spinal infusions deliver medication via needle or catheter into the epidural cavity or spinal sac (intrathecal, CSF). Used for labor, surgical, cancer, and chronic pain analgesia and intrathecal baclofen for spasticity, via externalized catheters or implantable pumps.

Spinal Injections

Spinal injections deliver local anesthetic, steroids, or both into epidural, facet, or sacroiliac structures to diagnose or treat spine pain. First used around 1900; 2025 BMJ guideline recommends against most uses for chronic non-cancer spine pain.

Spinal instabilities

Spinal instabilities (ICD-11 FB10): loss of the spine's ability to maintain normal vertebral relationships under load, causing pain or neural risk; causes include trauma, degenerative disease, congenital anomalies, inflammation, and prior surgery; diagnosis remains contested.

Spinal manipulation

Spinal manipulation is a hands-on therapy in which a practitioner applies a rapid thrust to a spinal joint beyond its natural range, used mainly for back and neck pain.

Spinal manipulative therapy

Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is a hands-on treatment applying controlled forces to spinal joints to improve mobility and reduce pain, delivered mostly by chiropractors and physical therapists.

Spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy, historically called Werdnig-Hoffmann or Kugelberg-Welander disease, is a hereditary disease in which loss of spinal motor neurons causes progressive muscle weakness, treatable with drugs approved since 2016.

Spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1

Spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1 (SMARD1) is a rare genetic motor neuron disease that causes diaphragmatic paralysis and muscle weakness, typically in infants aged 6 weeks to 6 months.

Spinal nerve

Spinal nerve: one of 31 paired mixed nerves (8 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, 1 coccygeal) formed by ventral and dorsal roots, exiting via intervertebral foramina as part of the peripheral nervous system.

Spinal pain

Spinal pain is discomfort in the back arising from spinal muscles, nerves, bones, or joints. Low back pain, its most common form, is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Spinal stenosis

Spinal stenosis, narrowing of the spinal canal or nerve root spaces pressing on the spinal cord and nerves; most common in the lumbar and cervical spine, caused mainly by aging, with leg symptoms eased by flexion.

Spinal Tap (band)

Spinal Tap (Spin̈al Tap) is a fictional English heavy metal band created by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Rob Reiner in 1978, made famous by the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap and its 2025 sequel; the actors really tour and record under the name.