subject: Complete And Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury [print this page] 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.
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. 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. 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. 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.
How Spinal Cord Injuries Happen
Violence-related injury is rapidly increasing, which is not surprising given that we are at war. 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. Complete seat belt failure accidents are also notorious for producing spinal injury.
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. 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.
Women are only about half as likely as men to have spinal cord injuries.
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.
by: Elton Willis
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