Complete vs. Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries in Oklahoma Legal Claims
A spinal cord injury is a frightening diagnosis, with impacts on all aspects of the injury victim’s life; however, there are many potential outcomes for spinal cord trauma, with no two injuries exactly the same. While it’s commonly understood that the height of the injury on the spinal cord is a crucial component of diagnosing a patient with paraplegia (paralysis of the lower body) or tetraplegia (total paralysis of the body below the neck), it’s less commonly known that the degree of paralysis also depends on whether the spinal cord injury is complete or incomplete. This distinction is also an important factor in determining the compensation available in a claim against the party responsible for the injury. A spinal cord injury attorney in OKC can help you determine the best way forward to maximize your compensation in your claim.
Understanding Complete vs. Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries
The spinal cord is a critical bundle of nerves running through the center of the protective bony vertebrae in the spinal column. The nerves in the spinal cord send and receive messages back and forth between the body and the brain, the body’s control center. When an injury occurs to the spinal cord, it disrupts the brain’s ability to send and receive the critical messages that facilitate movement and sensation below the level of the injured portion of the spinal cord. A spinal cord injury may be complete or incomplete, depending on the severity of the damage.
Complete Spinal Cord Injuries:
When blunt force trauma, a severe twist or snap of the spinal column, or a penetrating wound completely compresses, crushes, or severs the spinal cord, then the injury is a complete spinal cord injury with a total inability to send or receive messages. A complete spinal cord injury causes total paralysis below the point of the injury, with the complete loss of sensation and motor function.
Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries
When physical trauma harms the spinal cord but doesn’t completely sever it or destroy all nerves at the injury site, the injury victim may lose some degree of motor function and sensation below the point of the injury, but may still retain a degree of these functions. For example, while a complete injury of the spinal cord at the lumbar level of the spine results in immobility, loss of sexual function, and loss of bladder control, an individual with an incomplete spinal cord injury may be unable to walk but may still retain their sexual function and control of their bladder and bowels, or they may also be able to walk with leg braces and assistive equipment, depending on which nerves are damaged and which are still functional.
Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries In Personal Injury Claims
Despite the protection of the circular vertebrae, the spinal cord can suffer an injury from inflammation and bleeding after blunt force trauma, or partial or complete severing from shards of broken vertebral bone during serious physical trauma. Common causes of spinal cord injuries include the following:
- Car accidents
- Commercial truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Falls from heights
- Contact sports injuries
- Recreational activity injuries
- Acts of violence, such as gunshot wounds and stabbings
According to spinal cord injury specialists, the cause of a spinal cord accident doesn’t determine whether the injury victim will experience a complete or incomplete spinal cord injury. Instead, the severity of the trauma to the nerves determines whether the injury is complete or incomplete.
If a spinal cord injury could have been prevented by reasonable actions, such as by a reckless driver, careless property owner, or negligent construction contractor, the at-fault party can be held liable for the substantial damages faced by spinal cord injury victims.
Understanding Damages in Incomplete or Complete Spinal Cord Injury Claims
Spinal cord injuries are expensive to treat as well as life-altering and debilitating. This type of injury also requires mobility equipment and adaptive equipment for the home and vehicle. A spinal cord injury victim is often unable to return to work in their previous positions or at all. These financial consequences are the economic damages in a spinal cord injury claim. Common economic damages recovered in successful spinal cord injury claims include the following:
- Reimbursement for medical expenses
- Anticipated future medical costs for injury treatment, treatment for associated conditions and complications, and physical and occupational therapy
- Out-of-pocket costs for travel to see specialists, home and vehicle adaptive equipment, and mobility equipment
- Lost earnings and diminished earning ability
According to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, the average cost of a spinal cord injury in the first year ranges from $347,484 to $1,064,716 depending on the level of the injury on the spinal cord and whether the injury is complete or incomplete.
In addition to economic damages, spinal cord injury victims suffer severe physical and emotional consequences. A successful claim also recovers compensation for the following non-economic damages:
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Compensation for emotional trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances
- Catastrophic injury compensation for permanent disability, loss of consortium (the full physical and emotional relationship with another), and loss of enjoyment of life or diminished quality of life
The extent of the injury victim’s permanent disability, depending on whether the injury is a complete spinal cord injury or incomplete, is a significant factor in determining the extent of damages the injury victim faces for catastrophic injury.
How Can a Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer In Oklahoma Help?
Calculating the full extent of the damages available to you in your spinal cord injury claim heavily depends on medical expert analysis of the severity of your injury and its impacts on your earning capacity and ability to accomplish routine daily tasks. Instead of leaving your claim in the hands of an insurance company that’s not on your side and may actively seek to undermine your claim to protect the company’s profits at your expense, call a spinal cord injury attorney in OKC for assertive legal representation with your best interests as our firm’s highest priority.