Quantitated flexor response in acute spinal cord injury patients.

Flexor reflexes were compared with phasic stretch reflexes in 12 acute spinal cord injury patients with upper motor neuron lesions. Initial flexor reflex activity appeared later than initial stretch reflex activity in the majority of cases whereas maximal flexor reflexes developed at about the same time as maximal stretch reflexes. A quantitative method for evaluating flexor and stretch reflex activity at bedside is presented.