• Paraplegia Information
• Paraplegia Complications
• Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia
• Legal Rights



Paraplegia Information

Paraplegia refers to a specific level of paralysis. Individuals who are affected by paraplegia have no movement in their legs, and often limited or no movement in their torso. Paraplegia is caused by spinal cord injury, interrupting signals between the brain and other body parts.

Paraplegia not only paralyzes the lower extremities, but also interrupts sensory messages to the brain. With paraplegia, individuals cannot “feel” their affected body parts, and are generally insensitive to pain or heat. Paraplegia can jeopardize the victim’s health and safety because of this inability to differentiate pain. Paraplegia can also cause phantom pain and heat sensations because of damaged nerves. Like all paralyses, paraplegia significantly impacts the patient’s quality of life. In addition to mobility, paraplegia affects sexual drive and performance, digestive capabilities, bladder control, and numerous other aspects of life.

Paraplegia can be caused by accidents, injuries, or disease. Vertebrae protect the spinal cord; injuries causing paraplegia must be quite traumatic in nature to damage the bone-encased nerves. Traumatic causes of paraplegia include falls, car accidents, sports injuries, and construction or industrial accidents. Some forms of paraplegia are hereditary, while others are caused by disease or a tumor on the spine.

Paraplegia affects hundreds of thousands of Americans. If you or a loved one has paraplegia, you may be entitled to recover medical costs, lost wages, and other damages. Please fill out the Paraplegia Form below and a qualified attorney will be in contact with you shortly.

Paraplegia Complications

Paraplegia exists when a person affected by an inherited condition, an illness or an injury experiences loss of mobility in their lower body. Because paraplegia is most often caused by a disruption to the spinal cord - the channel through which nerve impulses between the brain and the body travel - people with paraplegia also suffer from damage to sensory nerves in the brain. This damage leads to a variety of other complications resulting from alteration of the brain's control over numerous physiological functions.

Spinal cord injury and illness that lead to paraplegia can come in many forms. Car accidents, falls and wounds from violent acts are the leading causes of accident-related spinal cord injury. Diseases such as polio and spina bifida also cause severe damage to the spinal cord. The spinal cord need not be severed in order for loss of feeling and function (paraplegia) to occur. Generally, the higher up the damage is on the spinal cord, the greater the amount of dysfunction the victim will experience.

The level of spinal cord damage associated with paraplegia varies depending on the causes of the paraplegia, and the methods of treatment for paraplegia complications are symptom-related. There is not a cure for spinal cord injury or paraplegia, but therapies - both psychological and medical - can ease emotional and physical symptoms. It is possible for some people with paraplegia to regain some functioning of their lower limbs if the swelling of their spinal cord subsides after their injury or later in the stages of their illness. However, only a very small fraction of people with paraplegia regain all functioning.

Paraplegia complications affect nearly all systems in the body, from reproductive system to respiratory system. Paraplegia can result in both a physical loss of sexual function, damaging the fertility of both men and women, and a decreased sexual desire. Bladder dysfunction is also a common paraplegia complication.

The most dangerous paraplegia complication is damage to the respiratory system. Disease of the respiratory system - most commonly pneumonia - is the leading cause of death for people with paraplegia. Paraplegia complications that affect the respiratory system occur when signals from the brain no longer flow through the spinal cord to control the respiratory muscles. In severe cases of respiratory damage, the use of a ventilator is required. Respiratory complications may also result in sleep apnea, a breathing disorder that causes irregular nighttime breathing, snoring and disrupted sleep patterns.

Other paraplegia complications may result in skin conditions, such as pressure sores and loss of elasticity, bone disorders, such as osteoporosis and fractures, and blood flow complications. Autonomic dysreflexia (AD), a paraplegia complication with multiple causes and symptoms, occurs when the spinal cord injury or disease damages the control mechanisms for blood pressure. AD can be related to bladder disorders and stroke.

If you or a loved one has paraplegia, you may be entitled to recover medical costs, lost wages, and other damages. Please fill out the Paraplegia Form below and a qualified attorney will be in contact with you shortly.





Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia

Hereditary spastic paraplegia is the term for a group of inherited neurological disorders characterized by weakness and spasticity or stiffness of the leg and hip muscles. There are at least 20 known types of hereditary spastic paraplegia, which is estimated to affect 20,000 people in the U.S.

An inherited disease is caused by a gene mutation passed down from either the father or mother. With hereditary spastic paraplegia, these gene mutations alter the code for proteins involving the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, thus disrupting their proper function. There are three different modes of inheritance for hereditary spastic paraplegia: autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive and X-linked. Each mode has a different risk factor, ranging from almost zero to 50 percent. The most common form of hereditary spastic paraplegia, autosomol dominant, carries a 50 percent risk of inheritance.

The most common form of hereditary spastic paraplegia is called "uncomplicated," meaning the progressive spasticity is an isolated occurrence unrelated to any other neurological functions. Symptoms of the degenerative disease often begin between the second and fourth decades of life, although they can start anywhere from early childhood to very late adulthood. Common early symptoms of hereditary spastic paraplegia include difficulty with balance, abnormal walking manner - such as dragging the toes - and repeated tripping or falling. Associated symptoms with a later onset include urinary urgency and frequency, hyperactive reflexes, diminished senses in the feet and painful spasms or cramps in the lower limbs.

Rarely, other neurological abnormalities - including mental retardation, epilepsy, dementia, deafness and eye impairments - occur alongside symptoms of hereditary spastic paraplegia. When these types of simultaneous symptoms are present, the disorder is considered to be "complicated" hereditary spastic paraplegia.

There is no cure for hereditary spastic paraplegia, and there are no specific treatments to prevent, slow or reverse the symptoms. Treatments are generally symptom-related, using medication to reduce spasticity and bladder problems, physical therapy to help maintain flexibility, strength and range of motion, assistive devices such as walkers or canes to aid in mobility, and psychological therapy or medications to ease disorder-related depression.

Life expectancy for people afflicted with hereditary spastic paraplegia is normal. However, the severity of the disorder's symptoms varies individually, with some people experiencing disabling effects while others are affected more minimally. Additionally, many sufferers find the severity of their symptoms is heightened when they feel angry or stressed. Some experience problems with their arms or fingers, although the degeneration of the related nerves is relatively mild, causing minimal damage to these extremities. Hereditary spastic paraplegia rarely results in complete loss of lower mobility.

If you or a loved one has paraplegia, you may be entitled to recover medical costs, lost wages, and other damages. Please fill out the Paraplegia Form below and a qualified attorney will be in contact with you shortly.






Legal Rights

In many of these instances, insurance companies and negligent parties may be able to provide substantial compensation for these injuries. People injured because of a negligent act have the right to seek legal assistance to help defray medical bills, compensate for pain and suffering and provide for future lost income.

Any person who has suffered a spinal cord injury should get a legal evaluation as soon as possible after the accident. The legal consultation is critical because you need to find out what help you may be entitled to. Even an accident that appears to be no one's fault could still result in a recovery. Since the injuries are so severe, the damage claims will often exceed the amount of available insurance coverage. The injured person needs an intelligent, investigative attorney who will find all coverage and who is able to devise theories to involve other parties potentially at fault for the injury. For example in the case of a violent crime, the victim may be able to recover from the owner of the property for failure to provide adequate security.

Conversely, if the available insurance coverage is adequate (in the case of a several million dollar policy) the company will have much more of an incentive to fight the claims (to avoid paying large sums to the injured person) and the attorney will need to be an experienced trial lawyer. As with any case time is critical, as time goes on, you may lose some of your rights and it will greatly help your case to begin evidence collection and take information immediately after the accident or as soon as possible thereafter.

If you or a loved one has paraplegia, you may be entitled to recover medical costs, lost wages, and other damages. Please fill out the Paraplegia Form below and a qualified attorney will be in contact with you shortly.






Paraplegia Form

For a free analysis of your Paraplegia Accident , please fill out this Confidential Questionnaire. This form does not constitute an attorney-client relationship between you and the firm.


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