Your help regarding assessment of wheel athelete vs. able bodied

[jonathan.k]

You are a physiotherapist at a fun run event. What would be the difference in your approach between assessing a wheelchair athlete (T4) paraplegic who you find slumped in his chair vs an able bodied athlete who has collapsed.

What would the initial assessment be comprised of and what are the likely diagnosis and immediate management in both scenarios.

Thank you so much for your time.

Jonathan

[msk101]

HI Jonathan,

hmm... this sounds suspiciously like you're hoping for some easy answers to an essay question?!?!?

if that's the case, i'd encourage you to come up with your own theories and think of the background as to why the athletes mentioned might have collapsed in the first place and how you would assess them from that view point. There are some very important differences but i'm not going to spoil the fun for you to do your own research.

Best of luck,

msk101

[Fyzzio]

... and to make your learning a bit more fun, how about you put yourself in a wheelchair and do a "fun run", let's say, 2 km.
Apart from the physiological ones, this way, you might notice some other differences yourself.
Great assignment,
Fyzzio

[jonathan.k]

FYI.

Information on Common Injuries and Disability-Related Medical Conditions of Athletes Who Compete in Wheelchairs

Cheers

[physiobob]

The essential first thing to check for in the wheelchair athlete is whether anything cause be causing a situation of Autonomic dysreflexia.

Strangely enough self inducing a level of this can lead to performance increases in spinally injured athletes and I have seen people at world championship events take it to far and ending up collapsed. Things like a distal 'pain-provoking' stimulus or a kink in something as simple at a catheter bag could bring this on.

You can read more about it here: Autonomic Dysreflexia and Hyperreflexia