Longitudinal study of body composition in spinal cord injury patients

Spinal cord injuries often lead to bone mass loss and muscle atrophy. This study uses DEXA to monitor these changes in patients during their first year after injury. The study reveals significant decreases in bone mineral content and lean body mass, along with increases in total body fat mass, especially in the lower body. Tetraplegic patients experienced more significant decreases in arm bone mineral content and lean body mass compared to paraplegic patients, highlighting the impact of lesion level on body composition changes.

• 1
  There was a significant decrease in BMC (P < 0.05) and LBM (P < 0.05) and increase in total body fat mass (TBFM) and percentage fat at infra‑lesional sites.
• 2
  The average decrease was 14.5% in BMC in lower extremities, 20.5% loss of LBM in legs and 15.1% loss of LBM in trunk, and increase of 0.2% in fat mass in legs and 17.3% increased fat in the lower limbs at 1 year.
• 3
  The tetraplegic patients had significant decrease in arm BMC (P < 0.001), arm LBM (P < 0.01) and fat percentage (P < 0.01) compared to paraplegics.