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Merritt et al. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2019;6:9 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-8659.2019.15 Page 9 of 11

Condition’s such as UTI, sepsis, and pressure ulcers account for higher health care cost utilization by
TSCI patients. Reduction of secondary heath conditions is one of the few areas that can be modified
in TSCI patients. Implementing rehabilitation and education about secondary health conditions for all
TSCI patients would save both hospitals and patients money. These savings would allow for allocation of
healthcare resources to other areas.

DECLARATIONS
Authors’ contributions
Conceptualized the theme and conducted the literature review process: Merritt CH, Taylor MA, Yelton CJ
Contributed to preparation of the manuscript, interpretation of subtopics, preparation figures, and revision
of the manuscript; and approved the final version to be published: Merritt CH, Taylor MA, Yelton CJ, Ray
SK

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
The work was supported in part by an investigator-initiated research grant (SCIRF-2015-I-01) from South
Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund (Columbia, SC, USA), and earlier R01 grants (CA-091460; NS-
057811) from the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA).

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019.

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