INTRODUCTION
Disabilities related to spinal cord injury vary according to the degree of damage, and the damaged spinal segments or nerve fibers. General symptoms after spinal cord injury are functional loss due to damage of motor and sensory nerve fibers, disorders of urination, defecation, and sexual function as well as other complications such as bed sores, urinary tract infection, stiffness, joint contracture, reduction of breathing ability, digestive disorder, pain, and autonomic disturbance1). An incomplete spinal cord injury refers to cases where some motor or sensory nerve fibers are preserved after partial spinal cord injury, and some of nervous systems pass intact through the damaged area to the distal spinal cord segments2). Even if partial muscle innervation remains, weakening of the trunk muscles and reduction of somatosensory sense in the damaged cord area occur making maintaining balance difficult3). Rehabilitation and return to society are the most important goals of patients with spinal cord injury. The WHO also emphasized this in a report called International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health4). Since physical structure, functions, and activities of patients with SCI are closely related, clinicians should select appropriate therapy strategies to improve patients’ physical abilities5). Forssberg6) reports the major conditions of successful gait for patients with SCI are: the trunk should be balanced, with two lower extremities and driving force of the body moving in the intended direction, and dynamic balance for control of the body as well as the ability to flexibly change movement according to environmental requirements and aims.
Patients with SCI use non-paralyzed muscles in order to maintain sitting posture due to weakening or paralysis of the trunk muscles and sensory reduction in the damaged area7). This causes straight neck, kyphosis in the thoracolumbar spine, and pelvic posterior tilt in the pelvis8). In this study, when malignant tumors were removed from 12th thoracic vertebra and 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae, paralysis of the left leg and kyphosis of the thoracolumbar spine increased creating an unstable posture and rapid decrease of muscle strength in the lower extremities. It is important for patients with incomplete SCI to strengthen their muscle strength and return to the workforce, which is one of the ultimate objectives of rehabilitation. Thus, this study reports how a single patient with SCI became stabilized in terms of abdominal muscles and back extension muscles, as well as returning the back to the neutral position from spinal deformation, as a results of complex exercises performed for 12 weeks.