Spine Dislocation Injury
Some auto accidents can lead to serious injuries that have permanent complications, such as injuries to the spinal cord. Based on statistics published by the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham:
- About 50 out of every one million people in the United States will sustain a spinal cord injury every year.
- This equates to more than 16,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries every year.
- Males sustain spinal cord injuries at about four times the rate of their female counterparts.
- The average hospital stay following a spinal cord injury is around 11 days.
Many different types of spinal cord injuries can occur with some of these being more serious than others.
A Case Report: Spinal Dislocation with Rotational Force
In a recent case report, a child was riding in the passenger seat in the family car when another driver collided with their vehicle from the side in a T-bone car accident. The vehicle was rotated several times and rolled over as a result. The extreme forces resulted in polytrauma for multiple people in the car. When EMS arrived, they noticed several problems with the child.
- The child could not move her lower extremities.
- She was complaining of severe back pain.
- She did not respond to touch on her lower extremities.
Immediately, they were concerned that a spinal cord injury had occurred. She was transported quickly to a local hospital where an MRI was performed. There, they diagnosed a dislocation of her spinal cord in the thoracolumbar region. Based on the position of the vertebrae, they believed it to be a rotational dislocation, which is an unusual injury. The child was taken to an operating room where the dislocation was repaired. However, the damage had been done. The injury resulted in a transection of the spinal cord at the level of the dislocation. The child was paralyzed from the waist down without any hope of achieving functional use of her legs ever again.
Assistance from an Injury Lawyer
When someone is involved in a traumatic accident that leads to a spinal cord injury, many questions and concerns arise. This is understandable because of the chronic nature of many spinal cord injuries. Individuals and their family members may have many questions following such a severe injury. For help, it is a good idea to meet with a personal injury lawyer in Sacramento.
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Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyers
I’m Ed Smith, a personal injury lawyer in Sacramento. A spinal cord injury can lead to paralysis. If you or a loved one has suffered injuries in a car accident, call me at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly legal advice.
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Spine Dislocation Injury: AutoAccident.com
Image Attribution: The photo at the start of this article is seen in its original form on Unsplash. The image has been reproduced here with permission/Spine Dislocation Injury.
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