Spinal cord injury is a devastating disease that has eluded successful treatment. It has been a long-held belief that most injuries are untreatable. This view is changing as new discoveries are made into the molecular mechanisms of injury and regeneration. This insight has led to the pursuit of new avenues of pharmacotherapy. Although surgical treatment varies with injuries at different levels, pharmacologic management for a lumbar spine burst fracture with spinal cord injury is no different than injuries at other levels. This review will describe some of the inroads made into spinal cord injury and discuss what treatments are now available and what may be in store for the future.

AMPA, burst fractures, glutamate, GM1 ganglioside, growth factors, kainate, NMDA, methylprednisolone, spinal cord injury
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