High Voltage, High Stakes: Neurosciences Grand Rounds (Adult Neurology)

This past Wednesday, June 18, 2025, I had the privilege of being one of the reactors at Adult Neurology’s Grand Rounds. Our Ward 5 neighbors invited me to talk about the rehabilitation considerations in the not-very-common condition of spinal cord injury due to electrical injury. The neurologists presented the case of a billboard installer whose head came in contact with a live wire, resulting in tetraplegia (or quadriplegia; weakness in all four limbs because of a spinal cord injury). Since the electrical injury also caused burns (the electric current’s entry and exit points are now called both “contact points”), our friends from Plastic Surgery also weighed in on with their management of the patient. I learned a lot from the morning’s presentation and enjoyed the interdisciplinary collaboration among the hospital’s services. I also realized why I am not a neurologist: localizing the lesion and teasing out pathophysiology isn’t my thing. I prefer the practical work of being the team that gets the patient out of bed and moving! Many thanks to the Department of Neurosciences Division of Adult Neurology for the opportunity to share our expertise in rehabilitation, the certificate of appreciation and the delicious box of ensaymadas.