Complete and Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

When it comes to spinal cord injury (SCI), doctors use many different classification systems. A spinal cord injury lawyer takes these diagnoses under consideration when preparing an SCI lawsuit. One classification that is crucial to SCI law is the description of a spinal injury as "complete" or "incomplete."

The difference between a complete and an incomplete SCI could be the difference between a medical malpractice lawsuit and having no case at all.

Complete Spinal Cord Injury

A complete spinal injury means a patient is completely paralyzed. Paralysis exists because the spinal cord injury is high up enough on the spine to cause total paralysis. Paralysis means there are no body functions, no feeling, and no movement whatsoever. A spinal cord injury in the neck can result in quadriplegia to the point that they need a ventilator to breathe. Injuries further down on the spine may result in paraplegia (allowing use of the arms), but the patient's bladder functions may be completely compromised.

Spinal cord rehabilitation for complete spinal cord injuries is much more difficult than for incomplete SCI.

Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

Patients with incomplete spinal injuries tend to have some limited control of the body parts affected by their injury -- a condition called hemiplegia may exist wherein one side of the body is affected more seriously than the other. In incomplete spinal cord injuries, patients may be able to move one limb or have feeling in some parts of the body but not others.

Incomplete spinal cord injury law tends to focus on the idea of spinal cord rehabilitation, which is far more successful than the same attempts made on a patient with a complete injury.

Spinal Cord Injury Law

When an SCI lawyer looks at a case, they look closely at the medical care given the patient within two days of the injury itself. This is because what doctors do immediately after a back injury has a big impact on the severity of the spinal injury later in the patient's life. There are many ways in which doctors and hospital staff can fail to provide optimal care after a spinal injury, and lawyers in spinal cord injury look for these actions to pursue a malpractice suit.

When you want to make a spinal cord injury claim, you may find it to be an agonizing process. An experienced spinal cord injury lawyer knows the time limits involved and can help investigate your chances at a successful lawsuit.

How Spinal Cord Injuries Happen

Violence-related injury is rapidly increasing, which is not surprising given that we are at war. However, the most common type of SCI comes from an automobile or work-related accident. Seat back failure accidents commonly lead to spinal cord injury -- these are cases when a car seat fails to provide proper cushioning or support during a car accident. Construction accidents can involve falls from great heights or near dangerous equipment, often compromising the spine. Complete seat belt failure accidents are also notorious for producing spinal injury. When a seat belt fails, the body is at greater risk for harm.

Secondary Health Concerns

A big concern for SCI lawyers is determining what secondary health conditions may develop as a result of a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injuries can cause other negative health problems in patients: pressure sores, respiratory problems, urinary tract and bladder infections, and scoliosis are the most common. Future health problems can be factored into a spinal cord injury lawsuit.

More Facts About Spinal Cord Injuries

According to the CDC, 200,000 people living in the U.S. are victims of serious spinal cord injuries, most of which happen because of auto accidents and falls. These injuries almost always result in adverse health conditions and cause a patient to undergo big lifestyle changes. The costs of dealing with spinal cord injury are far above the means of most Americans, and without physical mobility, job prospects for people dealing with serious spinal cord injuries are very limited.

Approximately 11,000 Americans will have a serious spinal cord injury every year.

Of those 11,000, the demographics are skewed toward young African American men, who are almost twice as likely to have a spinal cord injury as older white males. Women are only about half as likely as men to have spinal cord injuries. Almost sixty percent of the people who sustain a spinal cord injury every year are between the ages of 15 and 29.

Car accidents are the leading cause of spinal cord injury, but simple falls are not far behind in second place.

Though many people assume sports injuries cause the majority of spinal cord injury problems, they are only responsible for about 10% of spinal cord damage cases.

Treatment for spinal cord injuries costs Americans almost $10 billion a year. A final stunning fact -- the annual cost of treating pressures sores in patients with spinal cord injuries is just over $1 billion.

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