ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY I · MODULE 9
The disc was fixed. The pain stayed.
An MRI finally found the L4/L5 herniation the dermatome mapA diagram showing which spinal nerves correspond to specific skin regions. had predicted. The surgery went well. The pain did not leave. This module builds the spinal cordThe central nervous system structure that relays signals between the brain and body. and asks what keeps hurting after the mechanical problem is gone.
The findings this module reads together
The disc was real: nucleusThe control center of the cell that contains DNA and directs cellular activities. pressing a nerve root on the left, at exactly the level her numbness had mapped from the skinThe body’s largest organ, providing protection and regulation.. Discectomy decompressed the root. She was told the disc is fixed, your pain should be gone.
Instead light touch began to hurt, clothing became intolerable, and she lost reliable sensation of her bladderA muscular organ that stores urine before excretion. filling. Persistent pain after a successful decompression is not a failed operation — it is the nervous systemThe organ system that controls body functions using electrical and chemical signals. itself becoming the problem, sensitized by the same cytokines running everywhere else in her chart.
PATIENT CHART · STINA · CHART CLUE #9
- MRI — L4/L5 herniation, left root
- Exam — Sluggish left ankle reflex
- Post-op — Allodynia and hyperalgesia
- New — Neurogenic bladder
Seven parts, one chart
Each part opens with a finding from Stina’s chart and asks you to commit to a prediction before any video plays, then alternates short videos with H5P activities. Work them in order.
9.1
The Disc That Gave Way
The picture that confirmed what the skin had already mapped.
VERTEBRAL COLUMN
9.2
Inside the Cable
Gray matter, white matterThe outer portion of the spinal cord made of myelinated nerve fibers that transmit signals., and the tractsBundles of nerve fibers in the CNS that carry signals between brain regions. that carry sensation.
CORD ANATOMY
9.3
Reflexes and Roots
Reflex arcs, root levels, and what a sluggish reflex localizes.
REFLEX ARCS
9.4
Losing the Bladder
Autonomic control of a bladder that no longer reports in.
AUTONOMIC PATHWAYS
9.7
Cytokine Driven Pain
Central sensitization, and pain that outlives its cause.
CHART CLUE #9
◆
The Evidence Behind the Case
Every step of this module’s reasoning, paired with the peer-reviewed literature behind it.
REFERENCES
What you’ll be able to do
By the end of Module 9 you will be able to:
2
Identify the organizationThe structured arrangement of biological systems. of gray and white matter and the major ascending and descending tractsPathways that carry motor signals from the brain to the spinal cord..
3
Explain the components of a reflex arc and interpret reflex findings by level.
4
Describe spinal control of bladder function and the effects of its disruption.
5
Explain gate-control theoryA well-tested and widely accepted explanation. and the mechanisms of allodynia and hyperalgesia.
6
Distinguish nociceptive pain from centrally sensitized pain in a clinical history.
Hop to:
← Familial Mediterranean Fever — case home
All Modules
- Anatomical Language, Membranes & Homeostasis
- Just Enough Chemistry
- The Cell & Its Transport
- Making Cells & Proteins
- The Integumentary System
- The Skeletal System
- The Muscular System
- Nervous Tissue & the Senses
- The Spinal Cord
- The Brain & the Blood–Brain Barrier
- The Autonomic Nervous System
- Special Senses (in developmentThe process of growth and differentiation.)
- The Endocrine System
- Blood
- The Heart
- Blood Vessels
- The Digestive System
- The Respiratory System
- The Urinary System
- Fluids, Electrolytes & Acid–Base Balance
- The Reproductive System
- The Immune System
List of terms
- dermatome map
- spinal cord
- nucleus
- skin
- bladder
- nervous system
- white matter
- tracts
- anatomy
- meninges
- organization
- descending tracts
- theory
- development