REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1576976
Nutritional Alterations, Adverse Consequences, and Comprehensive Assessment in Spinal Cord Injury: A Scoping Review
Provisionally accepted
ZeHui Li1,2XiaoXin Wang1,2
Yu Yan1,2,3
Yingli Jing1,2,3
HuaYong Du1,2WuBo Liu1,2,4ChunJia Zhang1,2,5Zuliyaer Talifu1,6
Xin Xu1,7
YunZhu Pan1,8
JianJun Li1,3,4*- 1Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 2Department of Spinal Nerve Function Reconstruction, China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing, China
- 3China Rehabilitation Research Center, Capital Medical University, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4Department of Orthopedics, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- 5Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, China
- 6School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Dongcheng, Beijing, China
- 7Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- 8Rehabilitation Department, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Beijing, China
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to complex nutritional alterations, including energy imbalance, skewed macronutrient and micronutrient intake, and disrupted nutrient absorption and metabolism. These changes contribute to increased risks of obesity, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and other comorbidities, profoundly affecting long-term recovery and quality of life.Despite the growing recognition of these challenges, nutritional assessment methods for SCI patients remain fragmented and insufficient. This review first outlines the major nutritional consequences and clinical implications of SCI, then focuses on current methods for assessing nutritional status in this population. Three major domains are discussed: body composition analysis, nutrient intake and absorption assessment, and energy metabolism monitoring. Traditional tools such as anthropometry, food diaries, and indirect calorimetry are discussed alongside advanced technologies including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and metabolomics.By highlighting both current limitations and emerging solutions, this review underscores the importance of personalized, technology-assisted nutritional assessment strategies to guide clinical decision-making and optimize outcomes for individuals with SCI.
Keywords: Spinal Cord Injury1, Nutritional status2, Nutritional assessment3, body composition4, energy imbalance5, complications6, metabolic alterations7
Received: 17 Feb 2025; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Wang, Yan, Jing, Du, Liu, Zhang, Talifu, Xu, Pan and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: JianJun Li, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.