Spinal Cord Injury FAQs

Spinal Cord Injuries (SCIs) occur when there is acute traumatic damage to the spinal column, nerve roots or spinal cord, including the cauda equina. The damage causes permanent or temporary loss of motor function, sensory function and autonomic function of bodily systems. Doctors and researchers categorize spinal cord injuries as complete or incomplete.

A complete spinal injury involves a completely severed spinal cord that eliminates nerve function below the injury site. Typically, the individual suffers a total loss of function but may regain some abilities through medical treatment and therapy.

An incomplete spinal injury involves a partially damaged or severed spinal column. More than six out of every ten of all SCIs are identified as partial in one of three categories that include:

• Anterior Cord Syndrome – This syndrome involves an impact to the front of the injured victim’s spinal cord that affects sensory pathways and motor function that makes muscle movement increasingly challenging due to lessening sensitivity.
• Central Cord Syndrome – When force impacts the center of the spinal cord, serious nerve damage injury can affect the transmission of signals from the brain through the spinal cord. This type of injury results in a loss of fine motor functions, paralysis of the arm, partial impairment, loss of sexual function and the loss of bowel and bladder control.
• Brown-Sequard Syndrome (BSS) – Patients with BSS have loss of movement capacity on one side of the body at some level that is caused by an impactful injury to one side of the spinal cord.

Spinal trauma from an impact occurs anywhere on the spinal cord or in spinal nerves that can result in an SCI. Doctors and researchers identify the areas where spinal cord injuries occur in the three categories that include:

• Cervical Spinal Cord – This area of the spinal cord involves eight vertebrae (C1-C8) that when injured can impact motor function, organ function and sensory nerves below the top of the rib cage, that can result in quadriplegia.
• Thoracic Spinal Cord – This area of the spinal cord involves 12 vertebrae (T1-T12) that when injured can impact the body’s main trunk and coordinating movement in the victim’s lower body.
• Lumbar Spinal Cord – This area of the spinal cord involves five vertebrae (L 1-L 5) that when injured impacts the lower body sensations including sexual function and bladder and bowel control.

In addition to these three locations on the spinal column, damage can also occur to the sacral spine involving the nerves and vertebrae between the tailbone (coccyx) and lumbar spine. When the bone is damaged, the individual will experience minimal or no sensation to the body’s lower regions. However, this area of the spine does not have spinal cord tissue, so any damage or injury does not directly affect the spinal cord.

Doctors and medical researchers categorize paraplegia as the individual’s inability to move the body’s lower parts voluntarily. The spinal cord injury can affect movement to the legs, feet, toes and, in some cases, the abdomen.

Medical researchers and doctors identify quadriplegia as an injury that causes the inability to voluntarily move the body’s lower and upper parts that can include the chest, arms, hands, fingers, toes, legs, and feet. In some cases, quadriplegia (tetraplegia) affects the patient’s shoulders, neck, and head.

Individuals experience spinal shock are often faced with a temporary minimal to total loss of reflexes. A severe form of this type of SCI can lead to autonomic nervous system shock that involves hyperreflexia or areflexia. Spinal shock can develop after experiencing a life-threatening injury or severe trauma to the spinal cord. Because this condition is typically short-lived, your doctor can usually easily predict its stages to recovery that include:

• One to Two Days to Recovery – In the first two days after the surgery, the nerves are less responsive to sensory input, including a loss of reflex.
• One to Three Days to Recovery– In the first three days after the initial injury, the nerves begin to restore their reflexes.
• First Month to Recovery – Within the first four weeks after the injury, the nervous system will begin restoring strong reflexes as a response to a nerve synapse growth.
• First Year to Recovery – Within the first year after the injury hyperreflexia continues, although the victim may experience spasticity caused by changing neuron and cell bodies that typically take much longer to restore.

Perhaps the most devastating spinal cord injury is one that occurs between the C1 and C2 vertebrae that either kills the individual or leaves them fully paralyzed. Any severe damage in this area inflicts neurological damage and deprives the brain of much-needed oxygen and blood.

Recovery of a C1-C2 fracture depends on numerous factors including other damage or injury the individual suffered. Survival requires immediate treatment of the critical injury including stabilizing the head to prevent further damage while encouraging healing.

A severe injury to the cervical spine at C3 or C4 vertebra location causes significant functional loss of the body’s central nervous system. The survival of this type of injury will usually result in an injured victim with limited mobility in the neck’s extension and flexion that moves the head backward and the chin toward the chest. These injured patients tend to experience challenging difficulties in breathing and often require the use of a ventilator. Other associated problems include loss of bowel and bladder function and quadriplegia.

Scientists and medical researchers have yet to find a cure or effective treatment that reverses spinal cord damage between C3 and C4. That said, some individuals have found restorative help through physical therapy.

The most severe forms of SCI (spinal cord injury) affect the cervical spine that causes partial paralysis or quadriplegia. In severe cases, the spinal cord injury survivor loses their mobility that could increase the potential risk of suffering other issues including a loss of full respiratory function. The injured individual may lose their capacity to breathe, swallow or cough and often can only survive on a ventilator. A spinal cord injury that affects the lungs increases the development of respiratory infection, which is currently the leading cause of death of spinal cord injury patients.

An SCI can significantly alter or other body functions that will dramatically change over time. Some of these changes include:

• Obesity
• Bone loss
• Pain
• Cardiovascular issues
• Bowel/bladder disorders
• Pressure ulcers
• Muscle atrophy
• Anxiety associated with adjusting to the illness
• Depression

It is only in recent decades that there has been a notable change in the level of care provided to spinal cord injury patients who no live much longer life than in the past. These changes are the result of vast improvements in the level of care and a more comprehensive understanding of the issues associated with SCI.

Absolutely. While the spinal cord injury will dramatically change the victim’s life and the lives of their family and friends, using the services provided by a trained medical team can help the survivor enjoy many recreational activities, daily work, and home life. With realistic goals and access to the best medical care, medicine, and equipment along with a helpful support group, the survivor can enjoy life, have children, and participate in normal activities.

Spinal cord injuries that result in partial or complete paralysis create immediate life-changing consequences on both physical and financial levels. To ensure your survival, you will need access to extensive, ongoing medical treatments and therapies. Your medical and physical therapy teams will need to work together to assist you in learning your daily skills and adapt them to your changing abilities. Most SCI patients can continue to drive their motor vehicle, work in their same environment and have an active home life with certain modifications.

You will need to make certain adjustments to avoid specific problems associated with bowel and bladder complications, chronic pain, your inability to regulate your blood pressure and deal with challenging respiratory difficulties. With a specialized medical care team, you can increase your lifespan and improve the quality of your daily life.

Many spinal injuries are the result of motor vehicle accidents, motorcycle crashes, defective products, trucking accidents, medical malpractice, bicycle crashes and industrial accidents. At Jimmie Kang Law Firm, our attorneys remain committed to assisting you in making your life easier and significantly more fulfilling. Our team of legal experts recognizes that your SCI has dramatically altered your way of life and prosecute spinal cord injury cases on behalf of our clients.

Through our representation, our law firm will coordinate every available local resource that can assist you in your daily needs that include long-term medical problems, housing, and transportation. Our attorneys have access to every needed resource available and consult with leading rehabilitation neurosurgeons, doctors, psychologists and medical experts to ensure you receive the best spinal cord injury treatment.

Collectively, our legal team will build a claim for compensation by developing your case to present to a judge or jury. Our comprehensive understanding of state tort law and success in litigation will ensure you receive adequate financial compensation to recover your past medical expenses, ongoing costs and payment for future services that last as long as the symptoms and limitations of your severe injury.