Areas of Personal Injury Practice

Many scientists are optimistic that important advances will occur to make the repair of injured spinal cords a reachable goal. In the meantime, treatments and rehabilitation allow many people with spinal cord injury to lead productive, independent lives.

Spinal cord injury symptoms depend on two factors:
The location of the injury. In general, injuries that are higher in your spinal cord produce more paralysis. For example, a spinal cord injury at the neck level may cause paralysis in both arms and legs and make it impossible to breathe without a respirator, while a lower injury may affect only your legs and lower parts of your body.

The severity of the injury. Spinal cord injuries are classified as partial or complete, depending on how much of the cord width is damaged.

In a partial spinal cord injury, which may also be called an incomplete injury, the spinal cord is able to convey some messages to or from your brain. So people with partial spinal cord injury retain some sensation and possibly some motor function below the affected area.

A complete spinal cord injury is defined by total or near-total loss of motor function and sensation below the area of injury. However, even in a complete injury, the spinal cord is almost never completely cut in half. Doctors use the term "complete" to describe a large amount of damage to the spinal cord. It's a key distinction because many people with partial spinal cord injuries are able to experience significant recovery, while those with complete injuries are not.

• Spinal cord injuries of any kind may result in one or more of the following signs and symptoms:
  Pain or an intense stinging sensation caused by damage to the nerve fibers in your spinal cord
  Loss of movement
  Loss of sensation, including the ability to feel heat, cold and touch
  Loss of bowel or bladder control
  Exaggerated reflex activities or spasms
  Changes in sexual function, sexual sensitivity and fertility
  Difficulty breathing, coughing or clearing secretions from your lungs

Emergency signs and symptoms
Emergency signs and symptoms of spinal cord injury after a head injury or accident may include:

• Fading in and out of consciousness
• Extreme back pain or pressure in your neck, head or back
• Weakness, in coordination or paralysis in any part of your body
• Numbness, tingling or loss of sensation in your hands, fingers, feet or toes
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Difficulty with balance and walking
• Impaired breathing after injury
• An oddly positioned or twisted neck or back

Causes
Your brain and central nervous system
Together, your spinal cord and your brain make up your central nervous system, which controls most of the functions of your body. Your spinal cord runs approximately 15 to 17 inches from the base of your brain to your waist and is composed of long nerve fibers that carry messages to and from your brain.

These nerve fibers feed into nerve roots that emerge between your vertebrae — the 33 bones that surround your spinal cord and make up your backbone. There, the nerve fibers organize into peripheral nerves that extend to the rest of your body.

Injury may be traumatic or non traumatic
A traumatic spinal cord injury may stem from a sudden, traumatic blow to your spine that fractures, dislocates, crushes or compresses one or more of your vertebrae. It may also result from a gunshot or knife wound that penetrates and cuts your spinal cord. Additional damage usually occurs over days or weeks because of bleeding, swelling, inflammation and fluid accumulation in and around your spinal cord. Non traumatic spinal cord injury may be caused by arthritis, cancer, blood vessel problems or bleeding, inflammation or infections, or disk degeneration of the spine.

Damage to nerve fibers
Whether the cause is traumatic or non traumatic, the damage affects the nerve fibers passing through the injured area and may impair part or all of your corresponding muscles and nerves below the injury site. Spinal injuries occur most frequently in the neck (cervical) and lower back (thoracic and lumbar) areas. A thoracic or lumbar injury can affect leg, bowel and bladder control, and sexual function. A cervical injury may affect breathing as well as movements of your upper and lower limbs.

The spinal cord ends at the lower border of the first vertebra in your lower back — known as a lumbar vertebra. So injuries below this vertebra actually don't involve the spinal cord. However, an injury to this part of your back or pelvis may damage nerve roots in the area and may cause some loss of function in the legs, as well as difficulty with bowel and bladder control and sexual function.

More facts on Spinal Cord InjuriesA spinal cord injury can be one of the most devastating events in life, both for the individual experiencing it and his/her family and friends. Spinal cord injuries impose a tremendous burden on both the affected individuals and society at large, with costs that are staggering. The quality of life for individuals with spinal cord injuries has greatly improved in the last 60 years. This has been especially true in the last two decades. Statistical data published by the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center reflects continuing improvements in life expectancy and a reduction in the severity and occurrence rates of life threatening spinal cord injury complications. Improvements in standards of care, adaptive equipment, environmental modification, and legislation benefiting the disabled, have enhanced and enriched the lives of many injured individuals and their families.

The type of activity giving rise to spinal cord injuries varies by age, with sport-related spinal cord injuries more common in children and teenagers, while work-related spinal cord injuries (especially from construction work) predominate in adults. According to data from the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA), the most common causes of traumatic injury to the spinal cord are:

• Motor vehicle accidents (44%)
• Acts of deliberate violence (24%)
• Falls (22%)
• Sports (8%; two thirds of which are from diving)
• All other causes (2%)
• Diseases. Cancer, infections, arthritis and inflammation of the spinal cord also cause spinal cord injuries each year.

When someone suffers a severe spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis or serious impairment of other body functions, it is very difficult to accept the notion that there is no cure. One of the primary reasons there is no "cure" is because central nerves, damaged in such injuries, do not grow back or regenerate.

Another reason spinal cord injuries are so often irreversible is because the spinal cord is one of the most complex parts of the human body. The spinal cord makes up the majority of the body's most specialized system, the central nervous system. The central nervous system consists mainly of the brain and the spinal cord. The spinal cord carries messages to and from all parts of the body and the brain. Therefore, any impairment of its ability to function will have a profound effect on the body. A spinal cord injury can lead to any of the following:

• problems with the respiratory system;
• cardiovascular complications;
• urinary tract complications;
• gastrointestinal complications;
• metabolic changes;
• neurological disorders;
• sexual dysfunction; and
• psychosocial and vocational issues.

Unfortunately, the problem posed by how our central nervous system responds to an injury is complex. Many breakthroughs occur each year, yet they are merely building blocks to a cure for problems created by a spinal cord injury.

The aftermath of spinal cord injury often results is restrictions of role fulfillment as a worker, student, parent, spouse, citizen, or other status. Sometimes these disadvantages are not due so much to the disability as to societal reactions to disability. The person with a spinal cord injury has to cope not just with a changed body image, new ways of doing things, and increased reliance on others for daily activities, but also with changes in his or her social roles and interactions.

Due to the severe and permanent nature of a spinal cord injury, in bringing a claim for such an injury based on the fault or wrongdoing of another, it is imperative to retain the services of an accomplished attorney and competent physician. While these professionals may not be able to alleviate an individual's pain or loss of body functioning, they can obtain the optimal financial recovery to which an injured individual may be entitled, and access to the most current medical advances.

At the Law Offices of Vincent J. Ciecka, P.C. we highly specialize and been very successful in obtaining high recoveries in spinal cord injury related cases. If you have a situation where you or someone you know might be a victim of this type of injury due to the negligence of someone else, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss your specifics and help you determine if indeed you have a case so you can obtain due compensation for such injuries.

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