This document provides information about different types of paralysis and weakness caused by damage to the nervous system. It defines quadriplegia/tetraplegia as paralysis of all four limbs and the torso, usually caused by spinal cord injury. Plegia is defined as a suffix meaning paralysis. Specific types of plegia discussed include hemiplegia (one side of the body), paraplegia (the legs), and quadriplegia/tetraplegia (all four limbs). Paraplegia describes paralysis of the legs and possibly the trunk. Paresis is defined as muscular weakness caused by nerve damage or disease, representing partial paralysis. The key difference between plegia and paresis is that p

1. Chapter 12: -plegia & -
paresis
Andrea Gallegos

2. Quadroplegia
 Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is paralysis caused by illness or injury that results in the partial or total loss of use of all four limbs
and torso. The loss is usually sensory and motor, which means that both sensation and control are lost. The primary cause of quadriplegia
is a spinal cord injury, but other conditions such as cerebral palsy and strokes can cause a similar appearing paralysis. The amount of
impairment resulting from a spinal cord injury depends on the part of the spinal cord injured and the amount of damage done. Injury to
the spinal cord can be devastating because the spinal cord and the brain are the main parts of the central nervous system, which sends
messages throughout your body.

3. Plegia
Plegia:
 Suffix meaning paralysis or a stroke.
 hemiplegia (paralysis of one side of the body)
 paraplegia (paralysis of the legs)
 Quadriplegia/ tetraplegia (paralysis of all four extremities).

4. Paraplegia:
Paralysis is a general term used to describe the loss of
movements and/or sensation following damage to the
nervous system. Knowing the precise level of the injury is
helpful in predicting which parts of the body will be
affected by paralysis and loss of function.
Paraplegia describes complete or incomplete paralysis
affecting the legs and possibly also the trunk, but not the
arms. The extent to which the trunk is affected depends on
the level of spinal cord injury. Paraplegia is the result of
damage to the cord at T1 and below.
Injuries at the thoracic level and below result in paraplegia,
with the hands not affected. At T-1 to T-8 there is most
often control of the hands, but poor trunk control as the
result of lack of abdominal muscle control. Lower T-injuries
(T-9 to T-12) allow good truck control and good
abdominal muscle control. Sitting balance is very good.
Lumbar and Sacral injuries yield decreasing control of the
hip flexors and legs.

5. Hemiplegia
 hemiplegia [hem″e-ple´jah]
 paralysis of one side of the body; usually caused by a brain lesion, such as a tumor,
or by stroke syndrome. The paralysis occurs on the side opposite the brain
disorder; this is explained by the fact that motor axons from the cerebral cortex
enter the medulla oblongata and form two well-defined bands known as the
pyramidal tracts. The majority of the fibers in these tracts cross to the opposite
side; therefore damage to the right cerebral hemisphere affects motor control of
the left half of the body.

7. Paresis
 a condition of muscular weakness caused by nerve damage or disease; partial
paralysis.

8. Limbs
Monoparesis — One leg or one arm
Paraparesis — Both legs
Hemiparesis — One arm and one leg on either side of the body
Tetraparesis/Quadriparesis — All four limbs
Other
Gastroparesis – impaired stomach emptying

9. What is the difference between Plegia and Paresis?
0%
50%
100%
Volentary Movement
Plegia
Paresis
paresis means weakness but plegia means paralysis or no movement at all

10. Citations:
Hemiparetic cerebral palsy: etiological risk factors and neuroimaging journal article 2001
Visual function in children with hemiplegia in the first years of life 2001
The relationship between infections and adverse pregnancy outcomes: an overview, Dec. 2001
Premotor cortex is involved in restoration of gait in stroke, Aug. 2002
Intact motor imagery in chronic upper limb hemiplegics: evidence for activity-independent action
representations, Aug. 2002
Comparing tests of tactile sensibility: aspects relevant to testing children with spastic hemiplegia. Sept. 2002.
Sweden.
Neuroimaging fails to identify asymptomatic carriers of familial porencephaly. Belgium. October 2002
Hand function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy: prospective follow-up and functional outcome in
adolescence. Italy. Feb. 2003