Osteoporosis in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Latin American Spinal Cord Association. Latin American Paraplegia Society. (ALME – SLAP).
Osteoporosis in people with spinal cord injury is a medical consequence that, like others, alters body composition and can interfere with the patient’s functional performance. It is considered that bone mineral density decreases by approximately 35% in two years, in these patients. Despite this, osteoporosis is not a problem identified by patients, and what is even worse, it is forgotten in its study and treatment by the health team. Osteoporosis, always silent, then remains on a plane far removed from the assessment and therapeutic approach. This is how only 10% of patients with spinal cord injury will receive adequate treatment, becoming a major diagnostic and therapeutic problem. Fragility fractures are just the tip of an iceberg that we must consider, slow down their development and treat. This presentation will address those pathophysiological aspects with implications for diagnostic and therapeutic actions. Within the therapeutic proposals, non-pharmacological and pharmacological ones will be considered, with evidence and those that don´t have it but, in some way, are supported by experience. The final objective of this presentation is to awaken and strengthen the commitment of the health team to the care of this pathology in patients with spinal cord injury.