Colonic motility and tone after spinal cord and cauda equina injury.

AIM: To characterize colonic motility and tone in patients with spinal cord and cauda equina injury.

METHODS

Barostat-controlled measurements of tone and manometric measurements of phasic contractions in the left colon in two patients with spinal cord injury.

ANALYSIS: Computer based analysis of tone and phasic activity; comparison with data from 11 healthy subjects.

RESULTS

Both patients showed normal fasting tone and decreased postprandial tone in the colon; one had markedly decreased phasic contractility in the descending colon, but both had normal sigmoid colon motility.

CONCLUSIONS

Impaired postprandial tone and phasic motor function of the descending colon after spinal cord injury with normal sigmoid motility suggests regional differences in the effect of denervation. The effect of the level of injury to the neural axis on colonic motor and sensory function requires further elucidation.