Indiana Personal Injury Lawyers | Truitt Law Offices Blog

When someone suffers a spinal cord injury it can be difficult to understand the type and severity of the damage. In fact, in the medical community there has been much confusion about the terminology that defines injury levels, classifications, and severity. If you or a loved one has received a diagnosis of spinal cord injury you may be overwhelmed by the terms that are used to explain the damage. Terms like ASIA Impairment Scale and Zone of Partial Preservation are essential for clinicians but can be confusing to most people.

The ASIA Spinal Cord Injury Classification approach is used by most major organizations dealing with spinal cord injury. One key result is that more consistent terminology is used to describe the injuries. Within the ASIA Impairment Scale are some terms that are more understandable for patients and family members. There are two key terms that help us understand how serious an injury is:

Complete - The traditional definition of Complete Spinal Cord Injury is that there
is no voluntary motor function or conscious sensory function below the injury site. Another definition is that the patient does not have sensory and motor function at the S4 / 5 level.

Incomplete - The ASIA impairment scale provides three different definitions of Incomplete:

• Sensory but not motor function is preserved below the injury site
• Motor function is preserved and more than half of the key muscles below the injury site are impaired
• Motor function is preserved and at least half of key muscles below the injury site are impaired

Understanding terms like Complete and Incomplete is helpful but having someone on your side who really understands the issues surrounding Spinal Cord Injury is essential. If you live in the Lafayette area and you or a loved one has suffered a spinal cord injury contact an Indiana Spinal Cord Injury Attorney at Truitt Law Offices.