The Virginia personal injury lawyers of MartinWren, P.C. can handle injury cases in which the injury victim suffered spinal cord injuries (SCI), spine injuries, disc herniation and bulging disks, and other similar back injuries due to the negligence of another individual or business.
Spinal Cord Injuries Are Devastating
Spinal cord injuries are devastating neurological injuries for a number of reasons. First, the injuries are very severe. Based on the part of the spinal cord injured (the thoracic, lumbar, or cervical portion of the spine), the resulting nerve damage can cause paraplegia, quadriplegia, tetraplegia, hemiplegia, or paraparesis to result, each of which may place permanent life-altering restrictions on the victim’s mobility and ability to perform major activities of living. These injuries will require a lifetime of medical treatment, and the expense of that treatment can be crushing for any family to handle. The injured party’s home or apartment often needs to be retrofitted to accommodate their new disabilities, and the associated expense can be overwhelming.
Second, spinal cord injuries are oftentimes permanent. When such permanent injuries occur, not only will the injured party be affected, but that party’s family will also have to learn to live with these injuries. Houses may need to be retrofitted or renovated to meet the demands of a changed life; new equipment may be necessary to allow mobility; years of rehabilitation may be required to try to improve living conditions. These types of injuries cause lives to change forever, and the path to even a limited recovery is a painful and difficult one.
When traumatic spinal cord injuries cases turn into legal claims, it is vital that you have an attorney who can work with expert physicians, lifecare planners, vocational rehabilitation specialists, economists, and other professionals to ensure that you receive the compensation needed to provide the care that will be needed for rehabilitation.
For a legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer, call (434) 817-3100
Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries (SCI) may result from a number of causes, but the most common cause is serious automobile and truck accidents. SCI may also result from violent attacks, construction accidents, sports-related injuries, and from falls. Altogether, approximately 12,000 people in America suffer injuries to their spinal cords every year, most of whom are male and under the age of thirty. Following hospitalization after their initial medical treatment, most of these SCI patients are released to their home where they must learn to live with their new injuries.
Spinal cord injuries can occur in a number of different ways following a traumatic incident like a tractor trailer accident or a violent fall. The types of conditions or injuries that can cause spinal cord injuries include the following:
- Traumatic Subluxation or Dislocation. The vertebrae in the spinal column have each vertebral body stacked on top of each other. Trauma may cause these vertebral bodies to shift their position relative to one another. There can be a partial displacement, called a subluxation, or a complete displacement, called a dislocation. When this happens, the spinal alignment is distorted and the spinal cord can be pinched or stretched as a result. This can create compression, contusion, or traction of the spinal cord, and that can lead to a traumatic spinal cord injury.
- Central Canal Stenosis. The spinal cord travels down the spine through what is called the spinal canal. When trauma occurs, the spinal canal can be narrowed, and that can cause compression of the spinal cord. It is sometimes the case that a patient has pre-existing degenerative conditions (like disc osteophyte complexes or ligamentum flavum hypertrophy) and trauma can often exacerbate those conditions to create symptomatic central canal stenosis. It is possible that even minor trauma can cause a SCI if there is pre-existing stenosis. This is referred to as the “pincer effect,” where the spinal cord is compressed between various elements of the spine.
- Myelopathy (cervical or thoracic). Myelopathy is a condition where there is a change in the function of the spinal cord itself. This can occur when there is chronic compression (which, by nature, is a pre-existing condition, perhaps from herniated discs, stenosis, or tumors), a blood flow issue, and this problem can be triggered by trauma. Trauma can cause a condition of relative dysfunction into an overt cord injury. As an extreme example, a patient who has a condition of cervical spondylotic myelopathy can be involved in a traumatic car or truck accident and suffer paralysis as a result.
- Disc Herniation. A disc herniation can cause the disc contents to extrude or protrude into the spinal canal. This can cause direct compression of the spinal cord, and this condition can be particularly dangerous when accompanied by stenosis. This can be labeled as acute cord syndrome.
- Fracture-Dislocation and Burst Fractures. Some traumatic events can place enormous stress on the vertebral bones, causing those bones to fracture. Some events may create so much force that the vertebral bones actually burst and bone fragments enter the spinal canal. This can result in mechanical intrusion or compression, and these injuries can have permanent consequences. An example of this condition would be a T12 burst fracture that causes conus medullaris syndrome.
- Ligament Injuries and Associated Instability. The vertebral column is held together and stabilized by various ligaments and other soft tissues. Some traumatic forces can cause hyperextension or flexion of those ligaments, and that unnatural stretching can compromise the stability of the spine. That, in turn, can cause abnormal motion of the spine, which can cause either intermittent or sustained cord compression. An example of this type of injury would be a posterior ligamentous complex injury leading to delayed spinal cord contusion.
- Vascular Injury to Spinal Cord (Cord Ischemia). Just like any other soft tissue in the body, the spinal cord depends on being able to receive blood and other nutrients. Trauma can interfere with this, as a traumatic force can compromise the anterior spinal artery or segmental medullary arteries. These forces can cause cord ischemia, which is essentially a stroke of the spinal cord. This can lead to devastating consequences, including infarction or swelling, either of which can be catastrophic. An example of this condition would be hyperextension injury leading to anterior spinal artery syndrome.
- Epidural Hematoma. Some traumatic forces may cause a victim to start bleeding into the spinal canal’s epidural space. This can occur when the trauma causes a rupture of the epidural venous plexus or arterial vessels. When this happens, the hematoma can compress the spinal cord. An example of this type of injury would be delayed paraplegia after trauma for a patient on anticoagulation.
Other Traumatic Spine-Related Injuries
In addition to spinal cord injuries, a number of other spine-related injuries can have life altering impacts. Bulging disks, herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, spondylolysis, even whiplash injuries often occur after car accidents and falls and cause enormous problems. It is vital that proper medical care be obtained to minimize the impacts of the injuries and to promote recovery.
It may be the case that spine injuries can be surgically treated, which may allow the injured party to suffer less pain and discomfort, have increased mobility, and provide a return to a pre-injury condition. Surgical procedures such as spinal decompression surgery, laminectomy, spinal fusion, disc fusion, discectomy, lumbar fusion, artificial disc replacement, laser spine surgery, minimally invasive spine surgery, laminotomy, spinal stabilization, and spinal column reconstruction may provide relief from the pain associated with back injuries.
Because of the enormous disruption to life a partial or total spinal cord injury causes, the financial award and compensatory damages for an injured party may be significant. This is because the law seeks to make an injury victim whole, which means that the victim should receive compensation for their medical bills, and for the substantial future care, inconvenience, and future medical expenses for physical therapy, rehabilitation, and other medical treatments. Parties with SCI may also receive lost wages, lost future earnings, and lost earning capacity depending on how the accident impacts the party’s occupation and wages. In addition, injured parties are allowed to seek compensation for emotional distress, past and future inconvenience, pain and suffering, disfigurement, embarrassment, and loss of enjoyment of life and loss of consortium.
It is important to choose the right legal team to help you if you or your loved one have suffered a spinal cord injury. While it is true that these cases can result in significant compensation for the injured party, it is critically important to understand that such compensation can be received only by engaging in a protracted legal battle. You not only need a legal team that has experience with spinal cord injury cases and the difficult legal and medical issues those cases entail, you need to make sure the law firm you hire has the financial resources and network necessary to pursue these claims.
If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury or disc injury due to the fault, negligence, or recklessness of another, call Jonathan Wren or Robert E. Byrne, Jr. toll free, at (855) 812-9220 or at (434) 817-3100 to schedule a free consultation with an experienced, knowledgeable, and resourceful spine injury legal team. We will be happy to meet you at your home, the hospital, or virtually, including on evenings or weekends.
You will not owe any legal fees unless we recover money for you.
Call (434) 817-3100 or complete a Case Evaluation form
