After suffering a serious car accident injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down, one woman is now able to walk again. CNN reports that the breakthrough has been written about in two scientific journals and presents real promise for spinal cord injury patients. Research being performed at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center has been showing results that were previously believed to be impossible.
According to CNN, the patients who have been able to walk again, had “motor complete spinal cord injury” meaning that the patients were not able to move their bodies below the injury site before they received treatment. During treatment, patients received a spinal cord stimulation device and they underwent physical therapy. The patients who had been formerly unable to walk, can now walk with the assistance of walkers. The University of Kentucky study is not the only one that has shown positive results when patients were implanted with spinal cord stimulators. Another patient who received the stimulator in a University of California, Los Angeles study, was also able to walk again.
The stimulator can produce different results in different patients and doctors are cautiously optimistic about its possibilities. According to the Guardian, three out of five spinal cord injury patients have been able to walk again, and two of the patients involved in the study had some sensation below the site of injury. Yet, after hearing about the early results, many spinal cord injury patients have signed up for the study, even though the results are still in the early phase.
According to the Guardian, the electrical stimulation method works because doctors have theorized that small signals can still cross the spinal cord in areas where the spinal cord has been damaged. While the signals may be too small to cause movement, with the stimulator, those signals can be amplified. Patients need extensive physical therapy because they need to relearn how to coordinate the spinal cord signals with muscle movement.
The device also needs to be precisely programmed for optimal results. Too much stimulation can result in involuntary movement while too low stimulation can result in no movement. The research is still in its very early stages.
New research in the area of serious personal injury is breaking new ground. However, the cost of physical therapy and assistive devices remains too costly for some. If you’ve been hurt in a car accident in Dallas, Texas, you may have the right to seek damages and a recovery for your medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation fees. The Law Offices of Robert Gregg are personal injury lawyers in Dallas, Texas who work closely with victims and their families. Our firm can help you seek compensation for your injuries from negligent parties and connect you with the medical care you may need and deserve.