Spinal Cord Injury: New Horizons in Neurorehabilitation and Clinical Management

Dear Colleagues,

Spinal cord injury, either from traumatic or non-traumatic etiology, is a devastating event that completely changes an individual’s life. Spinal cord injury can significantly impair not only motor and sensory functions but also the autonomic control of the entire body, resulting in extensive activity limitation and participation restriction of those who live with it. Despite the advancement of medical technologies, an effective restorative treatment for spinal cord injury has yet to be developed, due to its complex pathophysiologic mechanisms and the differences in injury characteristics. On the other hand, functional recovery of individuals with spinal cord injury is also challenging due to varied personal factors and the context of each individual. These exceptional characteristics make spinal cord injury care one of the most difficult situations for clinicians and researchers to deal with.

In this Special Issue of the Journal of Clinical Medicine, we aim to transform spinal cord injury care through an evidence-based, scientific approach by curating up-to-date, high-quality academic articles to promote neurological restoration and functional recovery. We welcome submissions of original research and review articles presenting results in the above-mentioned research fields, in a clinical context with potential clinical application.

Potential topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Pathophysiologic mechanisms of spinal cord injury;
• Neuroprotective interventions for spinal cord injury;
• Interventions for enhancing neuroplasticity/neurological recovery in spinal cord injury;
• Neuroregenerative interventions for spinal cord injury;
• Spinal cord injury rehabilitation, especially with a personalized rehabilitation concept;
• Neurotechnologies and biomedical engineering related to spinal and spinal cord injury;
• Non-traumatic spinal cord injury, e.g., those from multiple sclerosis, infection, or degenerative spine etiologies;
• Hypothesis-driven epidemiologic and large database analysis research;
• Motor and sensory impairment and rehabilitation;
• Physiotherapy and occupational therapy;
• Management of secondary health conditions;
• Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction and urodynamics;
• Neurogenic bowel dysfunction;
• Pressure injuries following spinal cord injury;
• Osteoporosis and bone health;
• Cardiometabolic complications;
• Autonomic dysfunction following spinal cord injury;
• Educational interventions for individuals/healthcare providers caring for individuals with spinal cord injury;
• Environmental adaptation and assistive technologies;
• Psychological conditions related to spinal cord injury.

We are keen to discuss this opportunity with all potential contributors. We would like to thank you for your interest and look forward to your submission.

Dr. Andrew Kerr
Dr. Sintip Pattanakuhar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• spinal cord injury
• rehabilitation
• neuroplasticity
• secondary health condition
• neurological recovery
• functional recovery
• neuroprotection
• neuroregeneration
• neurotechnology