A spinal cord injury changes everything. It changes how a person moves, works, sleeps, and what their future looks like. Not all spinal cord injuries are the same, and the type and severity of the injury directly shape what a claim is worth and how it needs to be built.
If you or someone you love suffered a spinal cord injury in Louisiana due to someone else’s negligence, you need a Baton Rouge spinal cord injury attorney who understands the differences between a complete and incomplete injury and how they impact your Louisiana legal claim.
At Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys, we have been protecting the rights of injury victims for decades and have helped recover billions of dollars in client compensation. We have the experience, skills, and resources to help you secure maximum compensation for your injury.
Call a spinal cord injury lawyer today at (225) 999-1111 or complete the short form on our contact page to schedule a free consultation.
The Difference Between Complete and Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries
The spinal cord is the communication path between your brain and the rest of your body. When it is damaged, that communication is disrupted to some degree. An injury victim may suffer a complete or incomplete spinal cord injury.
A complete spinal cord injury means there is a total loss of motor function and sensation below the level of the injury. If a person has a complete spinal cord injury, they have no voluntary movement or feeling in the areas affected.
A complete spinal cord injury is considered permanent since the spinal cord generally does not have the same ability to regenerate itself that some other tissues do. Treatment focuses on improving the person’s quality of life and
An incomplete spinal cord injury means the cord has been damaged but not entirely cut off. Some signals are still getting through, so the person retains at least some degree of movement or feeling below the injury site.
Incomplete injuries vary widely. One person might have minor weakness and some numbness, while another might require a wheelchair but still have partial sensation. The long-term outcome depends greatly on the location and extent of the damage, the timing of treatment, and the quality of rehabilitation.
It is often difficult to determine whether a spinal cord injury is complete or incomplete immediately after injury. Spinal shock, which is a temporary suppression of function that often happens following a spinal cord trauma, may mask an injury victim’s full function.
Doctors typically wait six to eight weeks for spinal shock to resolve before making a definitive determination of whether the spinal cord injury is complete or incomplete.
An experienced spinal cord injury attorney can help you navigate the medical evaluation process and ensure your claim accounts for the full extent of your injuries.
How Spinal Cord Injuries Are Classified
Doctors use a tool called the ASIA Impairment Scale, developed by the American Spinal Injury Association, to grade the severity of a spinal cord injury. The grade of your injury is important to your Louisiana personal injury claim.
A spinal cord injury may be classified on a scale from A to E, as follows:
- Grade A indicates the injury is complete. There is no motor function or sensation below the level of injury.
- Grade B is an incomplete injury, and there is some sensation below the injury level, but there is no voluntary movement.
- Grade C is an incomplete injury in which the person has some muscle function below the injury level, but most muscles are too weak to move against resistance.
- Grade D is an incomplete injury that indicates motor function below the injury level, with most muscles able to move against some resistance.
- Grade E indicates that normal sensation and motor function have returned.
Where your injury falls on this scale affects your medical prognosis and the calculation of your damages. A knowledgeable Baton Rouge spinal cord injury lawyer can work with medical experts to accurately assess your ASIA grade and its impact on your compensation.
How the Degree of Spinal Cord Injury Affects Your Louisiana Personal Injury Claim
The legal significance of a complete versus an incomplete injury classification greatly affects a personal injury claim. Damages are tied to the permanence of the injury and the injury victim’s ability to function.
A complete injury almost always means the victim is permanently and totally disabled. When an injury victim faces that level of disability, their damages include lifetime calculations for lost wages and earning capacity, future medical care, in-home assistance, durable medical equipment, and modifications to their home and vehicles.
An incomplete spinal cord injury also involves significant permanent losses, but the prognosis may not be as devastating. The damages model used for incomplete injuries requires a much more individualized analysis.
Defense teams challenge causation and prognosis aggressively in incomplete cases. Because some incomplete injuries show partial recovery, insurance companies and defense attorneys will often argue that the plaintiff’s impairments are exaggerated, temporary, or unrelated to the accident.
They may claim that pre-existing injuries or other spinal conditions are to blame, and they may try to minimize the impact of what happened. You must have thorough medical records, including imaging and rehabilitation notes from your physician. Expert testimony can be invaluable in countering the defense’s arguments.
Additionally, the level of injury determines long-term care needs. A cervical injury that results in tetraplegia, meaning all four limbs are affected, requires much different and more expensive long-term care than a lumbar injury that only affects the legs.
Louisiana law allows injury victims to recover non-economic damages such as pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and other intangible losses.
At Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys, our team of spinal cord injury attorneys understands the complexities of spinal cord injuries and the devastating impact they have on injury victims and their families.
We work with medical, economic, and other industry experts to build your strongest case and help you secure maximum compensation for all your current and future economic and non-economic damages.
Contact a Baton Rouge Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer Today
The costs of a spinal cord injury are staggering. If you suffered any level of spinal cord injury caused by another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, you deserve to be compensated.
However, insurance companies and defense attorneys will work aggressively to deny, devalue, and delay your claim. You need an experienced spinal cord injury attorney in Baton Rouge to protect your rights and help you secure maximum compensation.
At Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys, our spinal cord injury lawyers have helped injury victims recover billions in compensation, and we are committed to helping you recover every dollar you are entitled to. Call (225) 999-1111 or visit our contact page to schedule a free consultation with a Baton Rouge spinal cord injury attorney today.