Paraplegia quite challenging at first for those with a spinal cord injury (SCI). With the aid of physiotherapists and occupational therapists, individuals with an SCI can learn new skills and adapt previous ones to maximize independence, often living independently within the community. Olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) have been transplanted with success into the spinal cord of Polish man named Darek Fidyka, who was the victim of a knife attack that left him paraplegic in 2010. In 2014, Fidyka underwent pioneering spinal surgery that used nerve grafts, from his ankle, to 'bridge the gap' in his severed spinal cord and OEC's to
Spinal cord injury research in acute spinal cord injury. Despite limited funding, a number of experimental treatments such as local spine cooling and oscillating field stimulation have reached controlled human trials. Inflammation and glial scar are considered important inhibitory factors to neuroregeneration after SCI. However, aside from methylprednisolone, none of these developments have reached even limited use in the clinical care of human spinal cord injury in the US. Methylprednisolone can be given shortly after the injury but evidence for harmful side effects outweighs that for a benefit. Research is being done into more efficient delivery mechanisms for methylprednisolone that would reduce its harmful