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Indianapolis spinal cord injury lawyer
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Indianapolis spinal cord injuries affect thousands of people every year, causing loss of function or paralysis. A spinal cord injury (SCI) can be caused by trauma or disease and can result in temporary or permanent loss of sensation, loss of movement, or loss of bowel or bladder control. Auto accidents are the primary cause of SCI's.
There are two types of spinal cord injury--complete and incomplete. A complete injury is one in which the victim has no sensation or voluntary motor movement on either side of the body below the level of the injury. If the victim has some feeling or partial movement, it is called an incomplete injury.
Where an injury occurs determines what it is called. An injury to the neck, which involves cervical vertebrae, will reference the particular vertebrae preceded by a "C". For instance, trauma sustained to the fifth cervical vertebrae will be called a C-5 injury. The thoracic vertebrae are found below the neck and the injuries there are defined as T-1, etc. Lumbar and sacral are the other types of vertebrae found in the spine.
In many cases, neck injuries will lead to the paralysis of all limbs (quadriplegia) and thoracic injuries cause paralysis to the lower limbs only (paraplegia). Depending on the severity of the injury, the amount of dysfunction will vary. An incomplete cervical injury may leave the patient with some hand use, while a complete injury at C-4 can require the patient to be on a ventilator. Thoracic injuries can leave the arms functional but interfere with walking, bowel and bladder control, and sexual function. Blood pressure, body temperature, and pain levels are other functions that can be affected.
A spinal cord injury usually involves swelling of the spinal cord which affects the whole body. Once the swelling goes down, the patient may regain function months or years after the injury, but it is rare for all functioning to be recovered. Current treatment consists of stabilizing any broken vertebrae, maintaining the patient, preventing movement to the injured area, and reducing swelling. Although there is no cure, stem cell research makes people suffering from SCI hopeful about the possibility of a cure in the future.
Additional Resources - refreshed on 08/27/2008
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