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Spinal Cord Injury Overview

Approximately 11,000 spinal cord injuries occur each year in the United States. The majority of spinal cord injuries are caused by car crashes, motorcycle accidents, recreational accidents, medical malpractice, gunshots, sports accidents and falls. Common types of spinal cord injuries include contusions, compressions, lacerations and central cord syndrome.

If one of your loved ones has suffered from an injury to the spinal cord, you can get help from today from our Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers.

Spinal cord injuries can be separated into two types of injury:

1. A complete spinal cord injury allows for no functioning below the area of the injury, along with no sensation or voluntary movement. In complete spinal cord injuries, both sides of the body are affected.
2. Incomplete spinal cord injuries allow for some movement below the area of the injury. These patients may be able to move one limb more than another, while maintaining more functioning on one side of the body than the other.

Doctors may further classify spinal cord injuries into paraplegia or tetraplegia, which has replaced the word quadriplegia. Tetraplegia refers to a spinal cord injury in the cervical region with loss of muscle strength in all the extremities. When an injury occurs in the thoracic, lumbar or sacral segments, it is referred to as paraplegia.

The symptoms of spinal cord injuries usually occur immediately after the accident. Should fluid accumulation, gradual swelling or tumors become factors, symptoms may develop more slowly. Delayed diagnosis can result in permanent neurological problems for the spinal cord injury victim. The following are some common symptoms of a spinal cord injury:

• Numbness, tingling or loss of sensation
• Lack of bladder and bowel control
• Paralysis
• Breathing difficulties
• Spasticity
• Lack of coordination

Injuries to the high thoracic or cervical cord can cause blood pressure changes, abnormal sweating and difficulty maintaining a normal body temperature. An examination by a neurologist may test reflexes and take x-rays or MRIs of the spinal cord injury patient. If you are a spinal cord injury victim, you may also want to contact a spinal cord injury lawyer. At Morgan and Morgan, the spinal cord injury attorneys may be able to aggressively litigate your spinal cord injury claim in court.