Transverse Myelitis Treatment Plan Assignment

Treatment Plan Assignment

Transverse Myelitis is a neurological condition which is a result of an inflammation of the spinal cord (Clinic, 2014). It causes damage to the nerve fibers (myelin sheath) which is located in the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The disease may affect nerve in the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar region of the spine. If it affected a certain segment of the spine any sensation within and below that injury will be affected or lose. Sometimes it may affect the whole spine in a transverse plane. Signs and symptoms may develop rapidly over a few hours or a couple of days. Symptoms include pain, abnormal sensations, weakness in the upper and lower extremities, bladder and bowel problem (Clinic, 2014). The patient may feel

In order to be diagnosed with transverse myelitis they are tests that need to get done. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) creates a 3-D image of the soft tissues. It also helps to identify other cause of symptoms. Lumbar puncture (spinal tap) is used to draw a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid (Clinic, 2014). In patients with transverse myelitis the CSF will contain abnormal white blood cell which can later be examined to verify if it is cancer or an infection that causes the abnormality. A blood test is done to check for antibodies that may associated with neuromyelitis optica, which is a condition where there is inflammation in both the spinal cord as well as the nerve of the eyes. If a person has positive antibodies it may result to a higher risk of experiencing multiple transverse myelitis which may cause further damage and complications to the body. It will require an excessive amount of treatment to prevent further complications that may occur. On MRI, there is hyperintense lesion extending over several segments of the cord on T2-weighted images (Zee, 2010). Treatment and drugs include Intravenous steroids in which are received in the vein. Steroids help reduce the