Of all the catastrophic injuries suffered in an accident, a spinal cord injury is the most complex and challenging injury for attorneys and families alike. Spinal cord injury is an uncommon condition that has significant impact on the injured person's functional, medical, psychological and economic well being.
Every year in the United States alone, 8,000 to 12,000 people incur a non-fatal spinal cord injury (SCI) and there are currently more than 200,000 Americans living with SCI. The average age at the time of a spinal cord injury is 15 to 35 years old, with a male to female ratio of approximately 2:1. Spinal cord injuries most frequently occur on weekends, specifically between Friday night from 6:00 p.m. to Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m.
The peak season of the year for spinal cord injury is in the summer. The most common causes are motor vehicle accidents, followed by falls, sports injuries and person-on-person violence. Injury prevention remains the most effective method of decreasing the incidence of spinal cord injuries.
As any spinal cord victim and his or her family understands all too well, the spinal cord injury rehabilitation requires comprehensive medical and therapeutic patient management and a tremendous amount of patience and hard work. It is a multi-step process that starts immediately after the accident and continues for the remainder of the patient's life.
Rehabilitation intervention commences at the time of injury with management of the acute trauma. This is the most critical time as the patient is at highest risk for SCI complications, including death. Acute rehabilitation follows with interdisciplinary intervention from physicians, rehabilitation nurses, physical, occupational and respiratory therapists, speech pathologists, case managers, psychologists, social workers and therapeutic recreation therapists.
More specifically, an SCI is an injury to the spinal cord resulting in a change, either temporary or permanent, in the spinal cord's normal motor, sensory or autonomic function. Generally, there are two classifications of spinal cord injury (SCI):
- Tetraplegia (replaced the term quadriplegia) - injury to the spinal cord in the cervical region with associated loss of muscle strength in all four extremities.
- Paraplegia - injury in a spinal cord in the thoracic, lumbar or sacral segments, including the cuada equine and conus medullaris. The leading mechanisms or causes of spinal cord injury are destruction of tissue damage from direct trauma.
- Central cord syndrome - often is associated with the cervical region injury leading to greater weakness in the upper limbs than in the lower limbs with sacral sensory sparing.
- Brown-Sequard syndrome - often is associated with hemisection lesion of the cord, causing a relatively greater ipsilateral proprioceptive and motor loss with contralateral loss of sensitivity to pain and temperature.
- Anterior cord syndrome - often is associated with a lesion causing variable loss of motor function and sensitivity to pain and temperature.
- Conus medullaris syndrome - is associated with injury to the sacral cord and lumbar nerve roots leading to areflexic bladder, bowel, lower limbs, while the sacral segments occasionally may show preserved reflexes.
- Cauda equine syndromes - are due to injury to the lumbosacral nerve roots in the spinal canal leading to areflexic bladder, bowel and lower limbs.
The most common levels of level of injury on admission to trauma centers are C4, C5 (the most common), and C6, while the level for paraplegia is the thoracolumbar junction (T12). Traumas are most common in persons younger than 40 years, while nontraumatic injury is more common in persons older than 40 years.
If you or your family member, friend or loved one has been involved in an accident resulting in a spinal injury, you must ensure that the injured victim receives the maximum compensation available under the law so that he or she can receive the best medical care and treatment available for as long as he or she may require rehabilitation and medical treatment. Our law firm prides itself on not only obtaining such monetary settlements to assist with your loved one's recovery, but also to provide compassion and emotional support to the injured victim and his or her family and loved ones in this most difficult time.
Contact Information:
To discuss you or your loved one's spinal cord injury with an attorney at Foster Law Offices, or to inquire about your legal rights associated with you, or your loved one's spinal cord case, please contact us to schedule a free consultation at 206 381-3939; or if you prefer to submit a confidential electronic written inquiry, please email us at: info@fosterinjurylaw.com.
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