What would an elderly patient potentially experience if they have an anterior spinal cord injury?

In the case of an anterior spinal cord injury, the patient primarily experiences damage to the anterior two-thirds of the spinal cord. This type of injury commonly affects the corticospinal tracts and the anterior spinothalamic tract. The corticospinal tracts are responsible for voluntary motor control, which means that a patient would exhibit significant loss of motor function, particularly in the lower limbs. However, motor function in the arms may be preserved depending on the level of the injury, and that's not specific to anterior cord syndrome.

The anterior spinothalamic tract transmits pain and temperature sensations. In an anterior spinal cord injury, these pathways are compromised, leading to loss of pain and temperature sensation below the level of injury while proprioception and light touch sensation, carried by the posterior columns, remain intact.

Due to the nature of this injury, patients often experience urinary retention or difficulty with bladder control due to the disruption of neuronal pathways that regulate the bladder's detrusor muscle and external urinary sphincter. This contributes to the urinary retention seen in these cases.

Preserved proprioception would not be anticipated, as the posterior columns (responsible for proprioception and fine touch) remain unaffected. Therefore, while the patient may display urinary retention due to