Spinal Cord Injuries

Every year approximately 11,000 individuals are victims of spinal cord injury in the United States. Automobile accidents cause the majority of spinal cord injuries, followed by sports mishaps, falls, birth trauma, violence and disease. While some victims will experience almost complete recovery, others will be completely and permanently paralyzed.

The personal injury lawyers at Davis Law Group represent victims of spinal cord injuries who seek fair and just compensation for injuries caused by the negligence of others.

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What is a spinal cord injury?

The spinal cord is the major bundle of nerves that moves nerve impulses between the brain and the rest of the body. Spinal cord injury usually starts with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. The impact causes the vertebrae to fracture or compress, which in turn crushes the extensive nerve cells (axons) that carry signals along the spinal cord between the brain and the body. The specific effect of a spinal cord injury depends on the location and severity of the injury. An injury to the spinal cord can damage a small number of axons or almost all of them. Spinal cord injuries are called either "complete" or "incomplete". The victim of a complete injury totally lacks sensory and motor function below the level of the injury. An incomplete spinal cord injury victim retains some sensory motor function below the injury site.

Tragically, many brain and spinal cord injures are irreversible. In addition to draining the victim both physically and emotionally, spinal cord injuries can also drain a family's finances because medical care for spinal cord injuries is costly and long-term. Many people who live with spinal cord injury have secondary complications including pain, respiratory and heart problems, bladder and bowel dysfunction, pressure sores, respiratory complications, urinary tract infections, spasticity and scoliosis.

Library for Spinal Cord Injuries:

• LECTURE: Update on Spinal Cord Injuries   
  Description: Current strategies to counter spinal cord injury revolve around prevention through education, streamlined diagnostic process, and early decompression and stabilization of the traumatized spinal cord and surrounding structural elements.
• LECTURE: Spinal Stenosis: Minimally Invasive Treatment Alternatives (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: This program discusses the role of nonoperative care and interventional management with injections and reports results of epidural steroids and indications for nerve root blocks.
• Low Back Pain: NACCAM Symposium   
  Description: NCCAM's Developmental Center for the Study of Mechanisms and Effects of Chiropractic Manipulation—a multiinstitution, multidisciplinary center that is administered at Palmer and builds on work by an earlier developmental center there.
• Symposium on Low Back Pain (Univ of Washington)   
  Description: Low back pain is a common ailment, which will affect up to 85% of our population at sometime during their life. In this series, the perception of acute versus chronic pain and its nonsurgical treatment is discussed. The role of surgical intervention as well as a comparison of various surgical techniques is presented by a number of experts. Mister Jeremy Fairbank, Consultant Spine Surgeon from Oxford, United Kingdom discusses the findings of his landmark study on the comparison of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and lumbar spine stabilization. All lecturers placed an emphasis on surgical indications and the emerging role of artificial disc replacement as well as the need to identify outcomes.
• LECTURE: Complications of Low Back Pain / Spine Surgery (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: Dr. Jens Chapman and Dr. Sohail Mirza identify some of the major complications of spine surgery and address difficulties in spine injury diagnosis and management, as well as major difficulties and inaccuracies in recording results of complications for spine injury hospital outcomes reports.
• LECTURE: Outcomes of Fusions for Low Back Pain: General Results (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: In this segment, Drs. Marré and Chesnut review the world literature on techniques and results of fusion surgery performed primarily for low back pain. Dr. Marré’s presentation focuses on the influence of surgical approaches and instrumentation techniques on reported outcomes, while Dr. Chesnut's lecture is on findings of several comparison studies on surgery for low back pain. Special consideration is given to attempts at explaining the sometimes conflicting findings in these studies.
• LECTURE: Results of Disc Replacement Surgery (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: One of the more controversial recent additions to the field of spine surgery has been the introduction of mechanical artificial lumbar disc replacements. Dr. Bellabarba provides a comprehensive review of the current state of literature results on this subject. Drs. Chapman and Chesnut then present an outlook on future non-mechanical approaches in spine surgery, largely drawing from overseas experiences due to federal restrictions in introducing these devices in the United States.
• LECTURE: Results of the Oxford Back Pain Study (University of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: In this presentation doctors presents the findings of the to-date largest comparison multi-center prospective study on surgical versus nonsurgical treatment of low-back pain. The study found that patients with back-pain without structural spinal deficiencies or encroachment of nerves may be better and more safely served with a dedicated nonoperative treatment using cognitive behavior therapy, a combination of reeducational efforts and physical strengthening.
• LECTURE: Specific Indications for Spine Surgery (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: There are several accepted causes of back pain that can benefit from surgical intervention with appropriately selected surgery. This is an in-depth discussion of the advantages and drawbacks of various surgical treatment concepts, such as leaving the vertebrae in place and providing a fusion, as opposed to repositioning the vertebrae and maintaining the new spinal alignment with special implants.
• LECTURE: Surgeon Views on Lumbar Disc Replacement Surgery (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: Discussion attempts to identify preferences of the spine surgeons participating in the Low Back Forum as to specific indications for lumbar disc replacement surgery.
• LECTURE: Outlook on Disc Replacement (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: Motion preserving surgery of the human spine has gained renewed interest in light of design advances. Thoughts on patient selection and salvage of failed intervertebral reconstruction surgery are presented. This episode focuses on disc replacement.
• LECTURE: Motion-preserving Surgery of the Spine (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: In the reconstruction efforts of non-traumatic, non-malignant conditions of the cervical spine, increasing efforts are underway to avoid fusion surgery, in order to avoid potential propagation of disc degeneration while utilizing minimally invasive procedures to increase patient comfort and expedite recovery.
• LECTURE: Spine Trauma: High-risk Patients (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: The identification of cervical spine injuries can pose prohibitive problems to the treating physician due to the complexity of injuries, patient comorbidities and patient volumes.
• LECTURE: Anterior Cervical Spine Surgery (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: Anterior neck surgery allows for a very meaningful and complete surgical decompression of a compromised spinal cord and nerve roots. Limitations of this technique, however, exist in terms of its potential to achieve a successful fusion, loss of alignment and bone graft donor site morbidity. Recent advances in techniques under utilization of cages and improved plate designs have shown encouraging improvements in patient outcomes.
• LECTURE: Non-Fusion Spinal Reconstruction (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: In this program, doctors discuss motion-preserving options in spine surgery. Describes the procedure referred to as “laminaplasty” for patients who require decompression of their spinal cord due to severe cervical spinal stenosis.
• LECTURE: Specific Indications for Spine Surgery (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: There are several accepted causes of back pain that can benefit from surgical intervention with appropriately selected surgery.
• LECUTRE: Minimally Invasive Treatment for Spinal Stenosis (Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA)   
  Description: Doctors discuss how patients were diagnosed with spinal stenosis and treated with minimally invasive spinal surgery.
• VIDEO: Spine: Update on Spinal Cord Injuries   
  Description: Current strategies to counter spinal cord injury revolve around prevention through education, streamlined diagnostic process, and early ... all » decompression and stabilization of the traumatized spinal cord and surrounding structural elements. This session provides a comprehensive review of pathophysiology of cord injury and a critical review of current and experimental pharmacologic and surgical treatment approaches.
• VIDEO: Spine: Update on Spinal Cord Injuries   
  Description: Current strategies to counter spinal cord injury revolve around prevention through education, streamlined diagnostic process, and early ... all » decompression and stabilization of the traumatized spinal cord and surrounding structural elements. This session provides a comprehensive review of pathophysiology of cord injury and a critical review of current and experimental pharmacologic and surgical treatment approaches.
• STUDY: Outcome after soft-tissue injury of the cervical: A prospective study of 93 car-accident victims [PDF]   
  Description: Ninety-three cases with a car-accident soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine were studied prospectively.
• ARTICLE: Common Spinal Cord Injuries in Car Accidents   
  Description: Spinal cord injuries are typically very severe and often result from car accidents. In this article we explore the common spinal cord injuries in car accidents, because often they are very severe and require immediate medical attention if your or someone you love was involved in a major vehicular accident.
• ARTICLE: The Legal Option For Brain Injury Victims   
  Description: Brain injury victims can always take legal means to claim compensation for their injuries. If you are an accident victim who suffer from brain injury and has already sought a doctor, you can contact a personal injury lawyer who specializes in brain injury cases to help you obtain compensation for your injuries
• ARTICLE: MRI May Predict Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury   
  Description: Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists can better predict the likelihood of full or partial recovery of patients with acute spinal cord injuries (SCI), according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Radiology.
• ARTICLE: A Step Forward In Understanding Tissue Damage After Spinal Cord Injury   
  Description: Acute spinal cord injury can damage spinal cord tissue and result in loss of functions such as mobility or feeling.
• ARTICLE: First Steps Towards Spinal Cord Reconstruction Following Injury Using Stem Cells   
  Description: A new study has identified what may be a pivotal first step towards the regeneration of nerve cells following spinal cord injury, using the body's own stem cells.
• ARTICLE: Intensive Training Post-spinal Cord Injury Can Stimulate Repair In Brain And Spinal Cord   
  Description: Intensive rehabilitation training for patients with spinal cord injuries can stimulate new branches growing from severed nerve fibers, alongside compensatory changes in the brain, say Canadian researchers. Most importantly, it could lead to restoring hand function and the ability to walk.
• ARTICLE: Spinal Cord Stimulation Can Relieve Low Back Pain   
  Description: Careful patient selection and stimulation programming can improve management of axial low back pain with spinal cord stimulation, report researchers at the 23rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in New Orleans. The researchers note that axial low back pain is a novel indication for spinal cord stimulation. Technological capabilities of the spinal cord stimulation system, particularly fractionalized current across contacts, uniquely provide the type of stimulation needed to relieve axial back pain.
• ARTICLE: MRI May Predict Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury   
  Description: Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists can better predict the likelihood of full or partial recovery of patients with acute spinal cord injuries (SCI), according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Radiology.

Frequent Questions for Spinal Cord Injuries:

• What is Spinal Cord Injury?  
• What is the spinal cord and the vertebra?  
• What are the effects of Spinal Cord Injuries?
• How many people have Spinal Cord Injuries?  Who are they?
• Is there a cure for spinal cord injuries?
• Do people with Spinal Cord Injuries ever get better?
• Does everyone who sustains Spinal Cord Injuries use a wheelchair?
  
• What is the mortality rate of people with Spinal Cord Injuries?
  

Case Results for Spinal Cord Injuries:

• $350,000 Settlement For Lumbar Herniated Disc - $350,000

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