Las Vegas residents and tourists may be used to losing their money, but are probably not used to losing movement or feeling in parts of their body. This is a common result of a spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI's occur when there is damage around the spinal cord. The spinal cord does not need to actually break for paralysis to occur. The results of SCI depend on the type and level of the injury.

Complete Injury

There are two types of SCI's. The first is called a complete injury. Characteristics of a complete injury are:

  • No function below the level of injury
  • No sensation
  • No voluntary movement
  • Both sides of the body are equally affected

Incomplete Injury

The second type of SCI is an incomplete injury. This type is more common due to advances in SCI treatment. The characteristics of an incomplete injury are:

  • Some functioning below the level of injury
  • One limb moving more than another
  • Feeling parts of the body, but not being able to move them
  • More functioning on one side of the body than the other

Spinal cord injuries are usually caused by trauma or disease. Trauma can come from being in a car accident, a fall or sustaining a gunshot wound. Polio and spina bifida are diseases that have commonly caused spinal cord injuries.

Right now there is no cure for SCI. Medical advances are helping to reduce the amount of damage at the site of the injury. Medications are available to help reduce swelling and loss of movement. When swelling goes down, the SCI victim may regain some of their movement.

The healing process can take days or months. In some cases of incomplete injuries it can take up to a year and a half. In a small percentage of cases it has even taken several years. SCI victims rarely regain all movement.

SCI victims also have a shortened life expectancy rate. This is due to a number of causes such as pneumonia, heart disease and external causes such as suicide. The greatest chance of long-term survival for SCI victims depends on the quality and level of treatment they receive.

SCI victims, who are injured because of another person's negligence, such as in a car accident, should contact an experienced personal injury attorney. In these cases, injured victims may be entitled to compensation losses suffered and expenses incurred, such as medical and rehabilitation expenses.

Source: Spinal Cord Injury Resource Center, "What is a Spinal Cord Injury?"