[What happens to paraplegics? (AUTHOR'S TRANSL)].

The article presents the results of re-examinations performed on 120 persons with spinal cord injuries due to industrial accidents. Comparisons were made between paraplegis and paraparetics with varyingly long histories of spinal cord damage. Examined was: independence in daily life activities, walking ability, frequence and type of complications, and employment. It was surprising that spinal cord injuries with incomplete lesions were relatively more often associated with complications than paraplegia, the most frequent complication being the urinary tract infection. As was to be expected, all groups of paraparetics were more independent in their daily living activities than the paraplegics. Walking ability diminished with age and also the length of time since injury. Whereas in the sample group D (up to five years after injury) only spinal cord injured persons with incomplete lesions were gainfully employed, in the groups A-C (up to 20 years after injury) the total of 13 paraplegics with complete lesions had a job.