How Doctors Diagnose a Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injuries are among the most expensive and debilitating effects of car accidents. According to the Foundation for Spinal Cord Injury, Prevention, Care and Cure , there are approximately 40 spinal cord injury cases per million people, or 12,000 cases, in the United States each year.
Many of these injuries happen in car crashes. If you or a loved one has suffered a back injury due to another driver’s negligence, contact the Churdar Law Firm for help.
Greenville personal-injury lawyer Doug Churdar will evaluate the circumstances surrounding your accident. If you have a legitimate claim, then he can help you pursue health-care expenses, lost wages and other damages from the liable party.
Call us today at 864-233-0203 to schedule a consultation. In the meantime, read on to learn why spinal cord injuries can be costly to diagnose and treat:
Spinal Cord Injury Diagnosis
Spinal cord injuries are not always easy to recognize, according to the National Institutes of Health. This can often make the diagnosis process lengthy and involved.
According to the NIH, doctors will generally look for head injuries, facial trauma, penetrating spinal injuries, and fractures to the pelvis when trying to find out if the patient is suffering from a spinal injury. The physician will also assess the circumstances that caused the accident.
If the patient has severe pain in the head, neck or back, has limited feeling in the extremities, or has difficulty walking, then it is likely that he or she has some form of spinal cord injury.
Medical Tests
The doctor may request additional tests to confirm a spinal cord injury. These tests may involve a CT scan, MRI scan, myelogram or direct X-ray of the spine.
According to the NIH, doctors often wait three days before conducting a complete neurological examination. At this stage, he or she will attempt to understand the extent of the injury and how likely the patient is to recover.
Five Classification Levels of Impairment
Many spinal cord injury patients will suffer a degree of impairment. There are five classification levels of impairment, according to the American Spinal Injury Association :
· A: Complete impairment, where there is no sensory or motor function left below the injury location.
· B: Incomplete impairment, where the patient has sensory function in the affected areas but no motor function.
· C: The patient has motor function in the affected areas but more than half of the muscles are too weak to function effectively.
· D: The patient has motor function, and more than half of the affected muscles may be able to function.
· E: The patient’s sensory and motor functions are not affected.
Treating a spinal cord injury is expensive. Patients may require surgery, physical rehabilitation and even changes to the home to cope with new limitations.
If you were in an accident and want to know if filing a lawsuit would be a smart decision, contact the Churdar Law Firm. Doug Churdar is a Greenville accident attorney who can guide you through the claims process. To get started, call our office today at 864-233-0203.
