After suffering a serious injury in an accident, you may be left with questions about how your condition will stabilize. With a spinal cord injury, you should know that you will likely reach some amount of stabilization in your health after a period of recovery, but there will be potential complications that could arise soon after, or many years after, the initial injury.
Complications of spinal cord injuries must be taken seriously because they could be life-threatening in some circumstances. Here are a few complications that you should take into consideration when you’re negotiating a personal injury claim, so you have the compensation needed to cover medical expenses or other needs if these issues arise.
- Pneumonia
For people who have cervical injuries, it is possible that the lungs fail to work properly. Some people may need to have a ventilator to help them breath and mechanically inflate or deflate the lungs.
Many people with spinal cord injuries at the C1-C5 level have trouble taking deep breaths or coughing, which increases the risk of pneumonia. Pneumonia is among the leading causes of death for those living with this level of a spinal cord injury.
- Autonomic dysreflexia
Another potentially serious problem is autonomic dysreflexia. This potentially life-threatening syndrome happens when there is a stimuli below the point of the spinal cord injury. A sudden dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system results in a high increase in blood pressure.
Something as simple as a bladder infection could lead to AD. This condition may lead to seizures, headaches, bradycardia and other serious issues.
- Bedsores
When you cannot move and also have no feeling below a certain point, you may not notice when sores begin to develop. Bedsores develop when circulation is completely cut off from one part of the skin and tissues. If pressure isn’t released quickly, this may lead to tissue death, an open wound and infection.
These are a few possible complications of spinal cord injuries. If you have an injury, be sure to go over the potential complications to be aware of ways to minimize your risk of harm.
