There are many differences between spinal shock and spinal concussion. According to experts from China Osteoarthropathy Research Institute, spinal cord shock was first described by Hall in 184 1, which means that after partial or complete amputation of the spinal cord, the spinal cord function below the injury plane is temporarily completely lost or mostly lost. It is characterized by the loss of motor, sensory, reflex and defecation functions below the level of spinal cord injury, but perianal sensation, anal reflex and bulbocavernal reflex can be preserved. Spinal cord shock usually lasts for hours to weeks, sometimes for months. It is generally believed that the depth and duration of spinal cord shock are closely related to the evolution of animals. The more developed the brain is, the more serious the spinal shock is and the duration is relatively long. The end of spinal cord shock is marked by the recovery of reflex below the injury plane. In the process of recovery, the original simple reflex (such as anal reflex, bulbocavernal reflex, calf flexor reflex, etc. ) in front of the recovery, more complex reflection in the back. These reflexes become extremely active after recovery.

Spinal cord shock is often affected by some systemic factors, such as infection, the duration of spinal cord shock will be relatively prolonged. At present, there are many explanations for the mechanism of spinal cord shock, which needs further confirmation. Clinically, although all patients with spinal cord injury show functional loss below the level of spinal cord injury, their pathological nature may be different. The description in surgical textbooks is only the definition of spinal cord concussion, which is rare in clinic. In contrast, spinal shock is more common. Of course, the possibility that spinal cord concussion and spinal cord shock belong to different pathological stages of spinal cord injury cannot be completely ruled out, which needs further study and confirmation. In addition, since shock and shock are synonyms in English, the definition in textbooks may also be due to translation habits.