PRACTICE AREAS
Types of Spinal Cord Injuries
ABOUT THIS CASE
Types of spinal cord injuries are classified in two categories; complete and incomplete.
A complete injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury; no sensation and no voluntary movement. Both sides of the body are equally affected.
An incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury.
A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb more than another, may be able to feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other. With the advances in acute treatment of spinal cord injuries commonly known as SCI, incomplete injuries are becoming more common.
Levels of a Spinal Cord Injury
The level of injury is very helpful in predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function. Remember that in incomplete injuries there will be some variation in these prognoses.
C-6 injuries generally yield wrist control, but no hand function.
C-7 and T-1 injuries can straighten their arms but still may have dexterity problems with the hand and fingers.
Injuries at the thoracic level and below result in paraplegia, with the hands not affected. There is most often control of the hands, but poor trunk control as the result of lack of abdominal muscle control.
Also known a, lower T-injuries allow good truck control and good abdominal muscle control. Sitting balance is very good. Lumbar and Sacral injuries yield decreasing control of the hip flexors and legs.
Other Effects of SCI on the Body
Besides a loss of sensation or motor functioning, individuals with SCI also experience other changes. For example, they may experience dysfunction of the bowel and bladder.
Sexual functioning is frequently affected: men with SCI may have their fertility affected, while women’s fertility is generally not affected.
Very high injuries (C-1, C-2) can result in a loss of many involuntary functions including the ability to breathe, necessitating breathing aids such as mechanical ventilators or diaphragmatic pacemakers.
Other effects of SCI may include low blood pressure, inability to regulate blood pressure effectively, reduced control of body temperature, inability to sweat below the level of injury, and chronic pain.
A person can “break their back or neck” yet not sustain a spinal cord injury if only the bones around the spinal cord (the vertebrae) are damaged, but the spinal cord is not affected. In these situations, the individual may not experience paralysis after the bones are stabilized.
When a SCI occurs, there is usually swelling of the spinal cord. This may cause changes in virtually every system in the body. After days or weeks, the swelling begins to go down and people may regain some functioning.
With many injuries, especially incomplete injuries, the individual may recover some functioning as late as 18 months after the injury. In very rare cases, people with SCI will regain some functioning years after the injury. However, only a very small fraction of individuals sustaining a spinal cord injury recover all functioning.
Currently there is no cure for SCI. There are many researchers confronting this problem, and there have been many advances in the lab. Many of the most exciting advances have resulted in a decrease in damage at the time of the injury. Steroid drugs such as methylprednisolone reduce swelling, which is a common cause of secondary damage at the time of injury. The experimental drug Sygen® appears to reduce loss of function, although the mechanism is not completely understood.
Damages in Spinal Cord Injury Cases
It goes without saying that the nature of spinal cord injury is such that the amount of damages that may be recovered against a party responsible for causing such injury is substantial. The average out-of-pocket cost of coping with a spinal cord injury in the first year can $741,000 or higher for the most severe injuries. For each year after that, the average cost is approximately $132,000.
The figures below do not include any damages for things such as lost in wages, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of enjoyment of life, and mental anguish, which can be into the millions. All of these catastrophic damages continue throughout the life of a victim.
In any spinal cord injury case it is crucial that you contact an experienced personal injury law firm. They will assure actions are taken to quickly to preserve evidence, review the medical procedures in question, and to enable physicians or other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate the accident record and injuries.
If you or a loved one is a victim of spinal cord injury, call Brotman Nusbaum Ibrahim & Adelman now at (888) 661-6266 or CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A SIMPLE CASE FORM. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds. Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.
| Average Yearly Expenses (in 2006 dollars) | ||
| Severity of Injury | First Year | Each Subsequent Year |
| High Tetraplegia (C1-C4) | ||
| Low Tetraplegia (C5-C8) | ||
| Paraplegia | ||
| Incomplete Motor Function at any Level | ||
| Estimated lifetime costs by Age at Injury (discounted at 2%) | ||
| Severity of Injury | 25 years old | 50 years old |
| High Tetraplegia (C1-C4) | ||
| Low Tetraplegia (C5-C8) | ||
| Paraplegia | ||
| Incomplete Motor Function at any Level | ||
Free Case Evaluation
Contact us today to learn more about our catastrophic injury response team and how we can help you recover the damages you deserve.