What Happens After a Spinal Cord Injury?

According to the United Spinal Association, between 250,000 and 390,000 Americans are living with a spinal cord injury, with approximately 18,000 new cases each year. About 78% of those affected are men, with an average age of 43.

An individual may face a range of different challenges and trauma after having a spinal cord injury. But not all spinal injuries resulted from an accident or traumatic experience. Some are genetic disorders, autoimmune disorders, infections, tumors, oxygen deprivation to the brain or spinal cord, or strokes, according to a Santa Ana spinal cord injury expert.

Still, the treatment remains the biggest concern for those with the injury. This consists of three main components, including emergency stabilization, surgical procedures for specific cases, and complete rehabilitation programs.

So what should you do after a spinal cord injury occurs? Learn the essential steps below!

Acute Medical Management

When an individual suffers a spinal cord injury, the main objective is to establish protection against further harm. Emergency responders establish spinal immobilization during patient transport.

Hospital procedure starts with a comprehensive neurological assessment that checks both the location of the injury and its severity. In this case, the medical team needs to stabilize blood pressure to deliver the necessary blood flow to the spinal cord injury. The team will start oxygen level management and imaging tests to check for any existing injuries.

There are two main objectives that surgeons must reach in surgical procedures. These are decompressing the spinal cord and stabilizing the vertebral column. They must also look into three factors before deciding to perform a surgery. This includes evaluating the injury mechanism, affected vertebral level, and presence or absence of neurological symptoms.

The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) reports that patients who experience acute hospital stays need 12 days of medical treatment, which results in hospitals providing inpatient rehabilitation services to patients with major neurological disabilities for 31 extra days.

Classifying the Injury: Complete vs. Incomplete

There are also different types of disabilities formed with different spinal cord injuries. The American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale serves as a standardized clinical assessment tool that doctors use to assess spinal cord injuries. Using this, they can test the motor and sensory abilities below the injury area.

If you or a loved one suffered a spinal cord injury due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to various types of compensation, says spinal cord injury lawyer Stephen Stewart. You may be able to receive compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or punitive damages.

The ASIA A classification defines a complete injury, which results in total loss of motor and sensory functions through the sacral segments. The ASIA B through D designations describe incomplete injuries because patients maintain some functioning ability beyond their injury point. ASIA E indicates normal motor and sensory examination findings.

The level of injury, whether cervical, thoracic, or lumbar, determines the affected functions. The spinal cord injury results in tetraplegia because all four limbs and respiratory functions become paralyzed through injuries to the cervical spine. Patients with thoracic and lumbar injuries exhibit paraplegia, which results in varying degrees of lower limb and trunk mobility loss.

Research published through the NSCISC database shows that people with incomplete injuries have better chances of regaining lost neurological functions than those who suffered complete injuries.

The initial classification after an injury will change during the first weeks as spinal shock symptoms begin to disappear.

Rehabilitation

The rehabilitation for spinal cord injury patients requires an interdisciplinary team that includes multiple specialists. The rehabilitation program aims to achieve objectives, which include increasing functional abilities based on the patient’s current impairment level and teaching the person how to use assistive devices and adaptive methods and helping them get ready for life in their future community.

The primary goal of physical therapy aims to build patient strength and mobility while supporting their recovery of neurological abilities. Occupational therapy teaches patients to complete their daily activities while developing upper body skills and learning to operate their assistive devices.

The respiratory therapy service requires ventilator management for patients who have sustained severe cervical injuries. Vocational rehabilitation assists individuals in obtaining employment while they acquire skills for their future job prospects.

The rehabilitation process begins with inpatient care, which needs to be followed by outpatient therapy and community reintegration programs together with active monitoring. After a brain injury, the most substantial neurological recovery happens during the first year but patients continue to show functional progress for extended time frames.

These days, researchers are working hard on finding effective techniques for rehabilitation, like Functional Electrical Stimulation and Activity-Based Therapies.

Secondary Complications

Healthcare costs for people with spinal cord injuries increase because their secondary medical complications create major health issues. Sometimes, bedsores happen because when individuals are unable to move themselves, circulation is obstructed, resulting in inadequacy in the blood supply of the tissues between their muscles and skin.

Neurogenic bladder dysfunction occurs when the bladder loses its ability to control its functions through nerve signals which results in more urinary tract infections and untreated cases cause kidney damage. Neurogenic bowel dysfunction needs organized treatment systems that help patients maintain their abilities while stopping health emergencies from happening.

Autonomic dysreflexia, a dangerous condition that affects individuals with injuries at or above the T6 level, causes an extreme blood pressure increase that medical staff need to handle urgently because it develops from normal body functions that operate below the site of spine damage.

The condition requires urgent action through both its detection and its medical treatment. The body faces three major health threats that need continuous medical care. These are chronic pain, respiratory complications, and cardiovascular diseases. Effects from these could persist throughout your life.

The Financial Impact and Legal Context

The economic effects of spinal cord injuries persist for multiple decades because they result in significant financial burdens. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) estimation shows that high tetraplegia first-year health and living expenses reach about $1.16 million, while paraplegia costs approximately $567000, and patients maintain high expenses throughout their lives.

A 25-year-old suffers lifetime expenses between approximately $2.5 million for paraplegia and more than $5 million for high tetraplegia, which excludes indirect expenses that the NSCISC estimates at tens of thousands of dollars lost productivity and wages annually.

In cases where another party causes a spinal cord injury through their negligence, which results from motor vehicle accidents or dangerous premises falls or workplace incidents or violent acts, the injured party can pursue a valid personal injury lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks damages for all medical expenses from past and upcoming medical treatment and rehabilitation efforts and home adjustments and assistive devices and in-home assistance and lost earnings and future income potential and all non-economic damages, which include both physical distress and the inability to enjoy life.

Spinal cord injury lawsuits commonly use life care plans, which certified life care planners create together with doctors who provide medical treatment. The life care plan establishes all forthcoming medical requirements together with their financial implications, which economists will convert into present-day value for settlement talks or courtroom proceedings.

The complex and lengthy treatment needs of spinal cord injury cases require victims to consult with lawyers who specialize in handling severe injury cases because different states have established their own regulations for keeping evidence and their respective timelines, which start when lawsuits must be filed.

Mental Health and Long-Term Adjustment

People who have suffered spinal cord injuries show high rates of depression and anxiety disorders. Some research shows that 20 to 30 percent of patients develop clinical depression. This means they show a major increase in depression rates compared to the general population.

The rehabilitation program for spinal cord injuries requires psychological support, which includes individual therapy, peer support programs, and psychiatric care for patients who need it.

The adjustment process for disability requires ongoing effort because people need social support together with adaptive technology and accessible housing and community integration resources to improve their long-term quality of life.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and regional Model Spinal Cord Injury Systems centers provide peer connection programs and resources to support individuals and families who need assistance with this process.