Final answer:
You would expect a total absence of pain, sensation, and movement (paralysis) below the point of the transection (injury) in a patient with a complete spinal cord transection. In a hemisection, hemiplegia would occur, with differential loss of pain and fine touch sensation on each side.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you suspect your adult trauma patient has a potential complete spinal cord transection, you would expect to find C. Total absence of pain, sensation, and movement (paralysis) below the point of the transection (injury). A complete transection severs the spinal cord and disrupts all functions below the level of the injury, leading to a loss of all voluntary movement and sensation. This condition is known as paraplegia which it affects the lower parts of the body and quadriplegia which it affects both the arms and legs.
In cases of a hemisection of the spinal cord, such as might occur in a motorcycle accident that causes complete interruption of nerve pathways on one side of the spinal cord, the individual would experience hemiplegia, which is paralysis on the side of the body where the injury occurred. The sensory effects would differ between the two sides: the side with a motor loss would lose fine touch but retain pain perception, and the opposite side would have impaired pain perception but intact fine touch sensation.