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Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

The lawyers at Pritzker | Ruohonen have decades of experience and have recovered millions for accident victims, including a recent $3,750,000 settlement.  Fred Pritzker, Rich Ruohonen, and Elliot Olsen have all been named "Minnesota Super Lawyers" by Minnesota Law & Politics.  To contact Minnesota car accident lawyer at Pritzker | Ruohonen about a spinal cord injury, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm's online consultation form.

What is a Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury?

The Spinal Cord: The spinal cord is a bundle of nerve cells and their projections (called axons) approximately 1 ½ feet long that extends from the brain down the back.  It is housed in the spinal column, a collection of 33 interconnected bones called vertebrae.

Trauma to Spinal Cord: Injury to the spinal cord can occur after a sudden or traumatic blow to the spinal column.  This can displace spinal disc material, free ligaments or fracture the vertebrae which can then bruise, compress, penetrate, or cut the spinal cord.  The degree of severity of the injury will depend on the level (higher or lower) of the injury and the type of injury.  The most severe form of injury is a complete severing or “transaction” of the cord (called a complete spinal cord injury) but this is rare. 

Spinal cord injury can result in changes in the ability to move and feel parts of the body, loss of bladder control and loss of other bodily function.  The spectrum of injury runs from complete recovery to complete paralysis.

Spinal Shock: In the immediate period after a spinal cord injury a phenomenon know as “spinal shock” may ensue.  During this period the spinal cord shuts down and little function can be detected.  Upon coming out of this period of shock the doctors may begin to observe reflexes in the arms and /or legs.  The extent of the spinal cord injury can be assessed once the spinal cord recovers from this initial “shock”.

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Recovery: Recovery from spinal cord injury can occur.  The neurons in the spinal cord do have limited ability to be repaired.  Under the right conditions the axons mentioned above can actually repair and reconnect themselves following injury.  The repair of the nerve cells and their axons in the spinal cord then leads to “recovery of function”.

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Symptoms: Some symptoms of spinal cord injury:

  • Bowel or bladder retention or incontinence, that is, inability to control the bowels or bladder
  • Inability to urinate
  • Leg weakness or any new inability to walk
  • Ataxia (loss of balance)
  • Vertigo
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

Resources:
http://www.spinalcord.org/
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/sci/sci.htm


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