The Dangers of Spinal Cord Injuries

A spinal cord injury occurs when some type of traumatic event results in cell damage to the spinal cord cells or the nerve tracts are severed interrupting the signal relay up and down the spinal cord. As many as 20,000 people per year suffer some injury to their spinal cord, leaving many permanently paralyzed. Many also die outright, the result o f their injuries. Spinal cord trauma can happen even in young and healthy people. Males between the ages of 15 and 35 have been shown to be at an increased risk of getting in an accident and acquiring a spinal cord injury.

The incidence of spinal cord injury is approximately 40 cases per million people, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Database. The leading cause of death following spinal injury is renal failure. However, more deaths are being recorded from pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, or septicemia attributed back to the original spinal cord injury.  Life expectancy for people with injured spinal cords has increased in recent years, but it is still short when compared to the rest of the population. For example a healthy 20 year old is expected to live roughly 79 years, while a quadriplegic, also 20 years old, has a life expectancy of only 60 years.

Following trauma the signs of a possible spinal cord injury include extreme pain or pressure in the neck, head, or back, tingling or loss of sensation in the extremities, Partial or complete loss of control over any part of the body, urinary or bowel urgency, incontinence or retention, difficulty with balance and walking, abnormal sensations in the thorax, trouble breathing, and unusual lumps on the head or spine.

If you have been injured due to another person's negligence, contact our Corpus Christi accident attorneys. We represent victims of truck accidents, mesothelioma, construction accidents, and defective products.