Therapy
If spinal cord inflammation has been diagnosed, therapy should be started immediately. Above all, so-called corticosteroids, i.e. drugs that are anti-inflammatory, are the focus of therapy for acute spinal cord inflammation. Depending on what cause for the occurrence of the inflammation of the spinal cord could be found, other drugs are added.
For example, if the infectiological cause is confirmed, anti-viral medication may be used, or antibiotics may be used in the case of a bacterial infection. Another possibility, which is mainly used for inflammations where it is suspected that an autoimmune reaction is responsible for the disease, is the so-called plasma exchange (plasmapheresis).In this procedure, the blood plasma is separated from the remaining blood and fresh donor plasma is added. This procedure is designed to filter out the defective cells of the immune system and thus treat the resulting inflammation.
The use of cortisone is advisable for almost all types of spinal cord inflammation. Glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisone) are even the drug of choice for treatment, since spinal cord inflammation (myelitis) is either caused by overactivity of the body’s immune system directed against the spinal cord or by a viral or bacterial infection. Cortisone strongly inhibits the inflammation and suppresses the body’s own immune system at the locally applied site (immunosuppressive effect).
It controls the metabolism of the inflammatory cells and thus inhibits the inflammatory process. In contrast to other anti-inflammatory drugs, cortisone acts very quickly and very strongly. For example, in the case of an allergic genesis of the inflammation, an effect can be achieved within a few minutes by intravenous application.
Only in the case of infectiological causes of spinal cord inflammation does the application with cortisone have to be weighed out. If an immediate, pathogen-related infection is the cause of the inflammation, cortisone treatment can slow down healing, as the immune system loses the ability to fight the pathogens itself. In these cases, antibacterial or antiviral drugs are preferable.
The glucocorticoids can be administered either intravenously, i.e. via the vein (often in severe acute cases), or orally as tablets. In principle, it should not be forgotten that cortisone treatment is a symptomatic therapy. Cortisone does not attack the actual cause of the inflammation, but only suppresses it. In the case of inflammation without an identifiable cause, cortisone can, for unknown reasons, heal the inflammation in the long term
