B

The prospective cohort study that explicitly addressed this question concluded that the simple binary distinction (“complete” vs “incomplete”) was a weaker predictor of 1-year functional ambulation than a more detailed assessment using specific sacral-sparing components (light-touch, pin-prick sensation and voluntary anal contraction). Their data showed a significantly better AUC for the sacral-sparing model (0.906) compared with the conventional complete/incomplete classification (0.823), leading the authors to recommend abandoning reliance on the binary distinction alone for prognostication [van Middendorp et al., 2009, PMID 19468282].