It’s no secret that motor vehicle accidents can cause serious back injuries to occur. What some people may not realize is it only takes one serious injury to cause lumbar radiculopathy and it’s a debilitating health problem that can stick around for a lifetime. Normally precipitated by an injured disc, it causes the afflicted to experience excruciating pain, numbness, tingling and overall weakness. There are non-invasive ways to treat the condition but they don’t always work. Consequently, undergoing back surgery or living with unending pain may end up being the only two solutions left on to the table.
When a serious injury occurs in a person’s lumbar region, signs and symptoms of radiculopathy may not show up immediately. As a result, motor vehicle accident victims that settle insurance claims quickly often have to fight for adequate compensation. That said, people involved in car accidents that led to serious back injuries should insist on a full medical work up of the spine. Full work ups often include contrast myelography and electrodiagnosis. They will often reveal if disc injury and related nerve damage are present.
Once diagnosed, motor vehicle accident victims with lumbar radiculopathy are frequently given steroid injections and made to wear support devices that restrict their movements. They may also be ordered to spend months in physical therapy and take expensive pain medications. If those conservative treatments aren’t effective, the person’s attending physician may recommend one or more surgeries. Depending on the situation, the list of surgeries could include, but not be limited to the following:
- Extreme Lateral or Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusions
- Pedicle Screws or Cage Implantation
- Lumbar Microdisectomy or Laminotomy
Of course recovering from lumbar radiculopathy related surgeries will take time and money too. There’s also the chance that the surgeries may not fully restore the accident victim’s spinal column, leading to a life of disability. For example, he or she may no longer be able to walk or drive unassisted.
Keeping all of that in mind, people involved in motor vehicle accidents that end with a lumbar radiculopathy diagnosis should consult with a personal injury attorney. A personal injury attorney may be able to present the worst case scenarios to the court and get seriously injured people the compensation they need to fully recover or live with their newfound debility. To learn more about how the process works, please contact us.
