Spinal Injuries: Treatment Innovations and Developments

A new data analysis by the National Spinal Cord Injury Database manager of the NHS in 2024 revealed that there are an estimated 4,400 new cases of spinal cord injury per year in the UK. This equates to someone becoming paralysed every two hours. The data includes both traumatic and non-traumatic (e.g. cord compression, tumours, inflammation, infections) injuries. It is estimated that 105,000 people in the UK live with a spinal cord injury.

While people often associate spinal injuries with losing the ability to walk, the reality is that the paralysis caused may affect all limbs as well as many functions of the body (temperature control, sensation, bladder and bowel function).

Living with spinal cord injury presents a multitude of challenges – from maintaining health to achieving maximal independence. Addressing these challenges entails collaborative research, and international research is ongoing to develop ways to fully restore individuals with spinal cord injury to their pre-injury levels of function, activity, and quality of life.

We heard last year that the outcome of an international trial suggested a treatment called ARC-EX therapy, which involves non-invasive stimulation with electrical pulses, can improve arm and hand function in those with chronic spinal cord injuries - providing significant increases to their overall wellbeing. ARC-EX therapy consists of delivering electrical stimulation to the cervical spinal cord using a device that is worn externally, and which involves placing electrodes on the skin above and below the injury. ARC-EX therapy is currently authorised for clinical use in the United States. CE Mark certification is being requested with a commercial launch in Europe expected in 2025.

More recently, an article in the Neuro Rehab Times on 13 February 2025 reported on a recent milestone surgical procedure in the US where efforts to develop spinal cord injury treatments took a step forward with the first implant of a novel spinal stimulator.

The surgery was part of an exploratory and development research study through the BRAIN Initiative** to investigate bladder function and locomotor ability in individuals who have lived with spinal injury for less than 12 months.  Once implanted, the device delivers electrical impulses directly into the spinal cord that potentially allow individuals to regain critical bodily functions, prospectively improving bladder function, motor control and, therefore, quality of life.

The surgery took place at the Kessler Foundation’s Reynolds Centre in New Jersey.  Research is ongoing, with the Kessler Centre recruiting patients who have had a spinal cord injury between C8 and T10, are unable to move their legs at the hip, knee and ankle joints voluntarily, and are unable to stand independently. 

The initial success of the surgery underscores the potential of epidural spinal stimulation to change lives. To date, more than 70 individuals with paralysis have contributed to the progress of spinal treatments at the Reynolds Centre. 

Although we are still some time off from the technology being commercially available, successful results from the research will be a win-win for both claimants, who can look forward to increased independence and a better quality of life, and insurers, who will benefit from reduced future claims costs resulting from that independence. As with all categories of injury, supporting early rehabilitation remains key.

The ‘Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies’ (BRAIN Initiative) was launched in the United States in 2013, its aim to develop new treatments for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.