Michael Padway & Associates Paraplegia Attorneys
Serving Washington, D.C.

SPINAL CORD INJURIES

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Life after a spinal cord injury can be as enjoyable and productive as any non-disabled person. A person’s potential is only limited by their determination and imagination. But there are physical and sometimes psychological issues that come with a spinal cord injury that cannot be ignored, your health and quality of life depend on it.

The higher the level of spinal cord injury is along the backbone, the more movement and sensation will be altered or lost. For example, an injury to the spine in the cervical or neck level may cause paralysis in both arms and legs and result in quadriplegia, while a lower injury, such as at the thoracic or upper-back level, may affect only the legs and lower parts of the body and result in paraplegia.

How are spinal injuries caused?
How many people have SCI?
What are the effects of SCI?

How are spinal injuries caused?

Until the most recent figures were released by NSCIA in August, 1995, these were considered as the major causes of spinal cord injuries. One of the most surprising findings is that acts of violence have now overtaken falls as the second most common source of spinal cord injury, as of the 1995 findings.

Motor vehicles 48%
Falls 21%
Sports 14% (66% of which are caused in diving accidents)
Violence 15%
Other 2%

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How many people have SCI?

Approximately 450,000 people live with SCI in the US. There are about 10,000 new SCI's every year; the majority of them (82%) involve males between the ages of 16-30. These injuries result from motor vehicle accidents (36%), violence (28.9%), or falls (21.2%).Quadriplegia is slightly more common than paraplegia.

The spinal cord is the major bundle of nerves that carries nerve impulses to and from the brain to the rest of the body. The brain and the spinal cord constitute the Central Nervous System. Motor and sensory nerves outside the central nervous system constitute the Peripheral Nervous System, and another diffuse system of nerves that control involuntary functions such as blood pressure and temperature regulation are the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems.

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What are the effects of SCI?

The effects of SCI depend on the type of injury and the level of the injury. SCI can be divided into two types of injury - complete and incomplete. A complete injury means that there is no function below the level of the injury; no sensation and no voluntary movement. Both sides of the body are equally affected. An incomplete injury means that there is some functioning below the primary level of the injury. A person with an incomplete injury may be able to move one limb more than another, may be able to feel parts of the body that cannot be moved, or may have more functioning on one side of the body than the other. With the advances in acute treatment of SCI, incomplete injuries are becoming more common.

The level of injury is very helpful in predicting what parts of the body might be affected by paralysis and loss of function. Remember that in incomplete injuries there will be some variation in these prognoses.

Paralysis is the inability to control the muscles that move the body. There are several levels of severity associated with paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia. The paraplegic has lost the partial or complete ability to move the legs while the quadriplegic is partially or completely unable to move both the legs and arms. Axiomatic brain injury (stroke) and spinal cord injury are the major causes of paralysis. The extent of the paralysis depends on the severity of the stroke or the location of the spinal cord injury. Paralysis can be permanent or temporary. Although scientists are making progress, the prognosis for reversing long-term paralysis is currently bleak.

Paraplegia refers to paralysis from approximately the waist down and quadriplegia refers to paralysis from approximately the shoulders down. Paraplegia is a form of paralysis that normally involves some type of injury to the spinal cord. Paraplegia is located as a lower injury like at the thoracic or upper-back level and will affect just the legs and lower parts of the body, opposed to quadriplegia, which affects the arms and legs. The injury, depending on where it is located on the backbone, will affect movement and sensation or lead to a complete loss. Most spinal cord injuries, like paraplegia includes loss of controlled functions of the bladder and bowel. Paraplegia is a serious condition that requires permanent care. There are many causes of paraplegia and sometimes the responsibility of the personal injury that resulted in paraplegia could have been prevented. Contact the parapalegic attorneys of Michael Padway & Associates for more information at 202-396-4700.

Quadriplegia is a form of paralysis that normally involves some type of injury to the spinal cord. Quadriplegia is an injury to the spine in the cervical or neck level that can cause paralysis in both the arms and the legs, opposed to paraplegia, which is a lower injury affecting the legs and lower parts of the body. The injury, depending on where it is located on the backbone, will affect movement and sensation or lead to a complete loss. Most spinal cord injuries, like quadriplegia includes loss of controlled functions of the bladder and bowel. Quadriplegia is a serious condition that requires permanent care. There are many causes of quadriplegia and sometimes the responsibility of the personal injury that resulted in quadriplegia could have been prevented.

Click Here for a list of online resources on Spinal Cord Injury

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