Sunday, March 24, 2024

Is Cauda Equina Syndrome Classed As A Disability

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If Youre Not Eligible

My Cauda Equina Story

If youâre aged 16 to 64 and not currently getting DLA, you may be able to claim Personal Independence Payment instead.

If youâre aged 65 or older and havenât received DLA or Personal Independence Payment in the last year, you may be able to claim Attendance Allowance instead.

If you were born after 8 April 1948 and youâre already claiming, youâll continue to get DLA until the Department for Work and Pensions writes to tell you when your DLA will end and invites you to apply for Personal Independence Payment .

Unless your circumstances change, you donât need to do anything until you hear from DWP about your DLA.

The rate you get is made up of 2 components . How much you get depends on how your disability or health condition affects you.

Starting A Disability Claim For Spinal Nerve Root Compression

If you don’t know whether you are eligible for Social Security disability insurance or Supplemental Security Income , you can apply for both. You can call the SSA at 800-772-1213 to set up an appointment to fill out an application for disability for your back problems or you can apply online. When you fill out your application, include both how your back pain affects your life outside of work and how it impairs your ability to work.

Take our disability quiz to help you determine whether you qualify for benefits.
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    Examples Of Cauda Equina Syndrome Compensation Payouts

    In this section of our Cauda Equina Syndrome claims guide, lets look at some average Cauda Equina Symdrome compensation amounts.

    Being able to give an accurate personal injury claims calculator for any type of injury can be difficult. In the case of a very serious injury such as Cauda Equina Syndrome, it can be even more complex to claim compensation. We have included a compensation table below to give you an idea of the types of general damages or injury compensation you could claim, as well as how much you may be entitled to. You should note that the unique circumstances of your claim will ultimately determine how much compensation you could be entitled to.

    £4,380 Fear of impending death.

    The table above includes injuries which are involved in or similar to those suffered in CES. They also indicate how the level of severity will be a part of any personal injury claim. If you would like a more accurate calculation and estimation of your compensation entitlement contact our team today. The figures in the compensation table have been taken from the latest version of the Judicial College guidelines.

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    Red Flags And Low Back Pain

    The role of physiotherapists as primary identifiers of red flags has grown owing to the spread of selfreferral services. Physiotherapists often exist without any medical input or review.Therefore, there is a need to ensure that physiotherapists have a good understanding of individual red flags, understand their importance, and can ask these questions in a clear and unambiguous manner. Similarly, physiotherapists must have a clear understanding and agreed pathways of care dependent on these findings. Failure to do so raises issues around patient safety and professional reputation.

    One study by Feguson et al. aimed to investigate the red flags that are routinely recorded by physiotherapists. This included which red flags do they consider to be most important, how would they define each red flag, and how they would ask each redflag question to a person with back pain. 98 physiotherapists responded to the survey, 84% worked exclusively in the National Health Service . They recorded that Previous history of cancer, saddle anesthesia, and difficulty with micturition were the red flags that raised suspicion of serious pathology the most. The physiotherapists involved in the study stated the following way to ask about red flags:

    • History of cancer: an individual who has previously been diagnosed with cancer.
    • Saddle anesthesia: Since your symptoms commenced, have you noticed any pins and needles or numbness around your back passage or genital area.

    Back Pain And Hospital Visit

    Cauda Equina Syndrome affected  violence victim

    One morning Collettes back started to hurt severely with the pain radiating into her left leg. She went to see her GP who thought she was suffering from cauda equina syndrome and told her to go to hospital urgently.

    Once at hospital Collette was examined by a doctor who found that as well as the pain her left thigh was also numb and she and pins and needles in same leg as well as her hips and genital area. Collette had also found that she could not feel anything when she passed urine.

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    Summary Of Management Of Ces

  • CES is a rare condition but may have devastating consequences for patients, their families and their clinical contacts if the condition is not adequately managed in order to avoid unpleasant clinical and legal sequelae.

  • Early diagnosis by GP or hospital doctor gives the patient the best chance of a satisfactory outcome although 5070% of patients have a relatively acute onset and the die is cast at the time of prolapse or shortly afterwards. However around 5070% of these unfortunate patients can have an acceptable result with relatively minor deficits following urgent but not necessarily emergency surgery .

  • In the other 3050% of patients with a more gradual onset, prompt and intelligent management by all concerned is vital. The patient must seek help quickly, the GP must then check for urinary dysfunction, perineal numbness, loss of anal tone and examine for neural deficit in the lower limbs. Rapid transfer to hospital must be ensured, preferably with an accompanying telephone call to avoid delays.

  • Sympathetic and supportive multidisciplinary postoperative management over many months may be necessary with the help of a spinal injuries unit, a urologist and/or gynaecologist, a specialist gastro-enterologist and social services.

  • How Is Cauda Equina Syndrome Treated

    Before we look at Cauda Equina Syndrome claims, lets look at some common treatments for this condition.

    Cauda Equina Syndrome recovery is aided by the administration of treatment as quickly as possible. If the doctor treating your condition suspects CES they should appreciate that this could be a possibility, however remote and immediately confirm the diagnosis with further testing.

    Their first step should be to perform a physical examination of the area to start looking for the signs of nerve damage. They should also take blood and urine samples to test. This will help discount any other potential condition, such as an infection causing your symptoms. If after having a physical exam, blood and urine tests and if your symptoms look like they are from CES, you should be given a Cauda Equina Syndrome MRI scan straight away. This will confirm the diagnosis.

    The examination, testing, confirmation of diagnosis and starting of treatment should be completed with 48 at the most of you being admitted to hospital. Once the condition is diagnosed you should be taken for decompression surgery as a matter of urgency at the earliest surgical slot.

    Depending on what caused your injury additional treatment such as a high dosage course of corticosteroids to reduce any swelling may also be necessary. If your condition was initially caused by an infection you may also be given antibiotics. CES caused by malignant tumors could require chemotherapy or radiation after your emergency surgery.

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    Raising Awareness Of Rare Condition Of Cauda Equina Syndrome On International Day Of Persons With Disabilities

    International Day of Persons with Disabilities takes place each year on 3 December to raise awareness of disability issues and rights and to promote the fact that disability should equal diversity, not disadvantage.

    The clinical negligence team at Penningtons Manches acts for a number of clients who have been diagnosed with Cauda Equina Syndrome , which can be an extremely disabling condition if surgery is not performed promptly. As the condition is relatively unknown to the general population, we are using International Day of Persons with Disabilities to raise awareness.

    What is CES?

    The Cauda Equina nerves are located at the lower end of the spinal cord where the nerves fan outbehind the lumbar discs of the spine. If these discs prolapse, they can trap the Cauda Equina nerves. In younger people this often happens quite suddenly but in older people the process can be more gradual and therefore the symptoms can sometimes be mistakenly put down to old age. CES is a medical emergency as the longer the nerves are trapped, the more likely the damage is to be permanent.

    What are the symptoms?

    There are a number of ‘red flag’ symptoms to look out for, including:

    • severe back pain
    • weakness or numbness in one or both legs, particularly in the feet and ankles
    • the inability to urinate or to hold urine or faeces
    • numbness or tingling in the crotch and/or buttocks and
    • sexual dysfunction.

    Treatment and recovery

    Is It Invertebral Disc Syndrome Or Cauda Equina Syndrome

    Cauda Equina Syndrome Explained in Simple Lay Man Terms | Sex and the Spine

    Intervertebral Disc Syndrome is the condition where you actually have broken off parts of bone or other tissues in the wrong places in your spine. This is similar to the compression of Cauda Equina Syndrome but can occur in many more places. IDS can occur in any of your vertebrae, while CES is only in your lower tailbone area.

    An MRI can detect the difference, but sometimes its hard to get a doctor to call for a full MRI when you are just suffering from a few symptoms. Be clear with your doctor about what symptoms you are feeling, how severe they are, and at what speed they are coming on. The speed of the onset is a key indicator of what makes CES different from other back problems.

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    Qualifying For Disability Due To Spinal Nerve Root Compression

    The Social Security Administration recognizes that severe nerve root compression can be debilitating, and as a result, it has created an official impairment listing in the SSA’s “Blue Book” of impairments. If your condition matches the requirements in this listing , you can get Social Security disability benefits.

    Under the listing for nerve root compression , the SSA specifies the symptoms and severity required for nerve root compression of any kind to qualify as a disability. Basically, evidence of pressure on your spinal nerve root or spinal cord must be accompanied by all of the following:

    • pain
    • limitation of motion in the spine
    • loss of sensation or reflexes
    • muscle weakness, and
    • a positive result on the straight-leg-raising test, both in a sitting or supine position, if the lower back is involved.

    In addition, your nerve root compression problems must have lasted or be expected to last 12 months or more.

    Medical Negligence Leading To Cauda Equina Syndrome

    You may wish to make Cauda Equina Syndrome claims for medical negligence.

    In instances where your CES was either caused or made worse by medical negligence or misdiagnosis, you could have grounds to make a Cauda Equina Syndrome successful claims. There are multiple types of claim one can make in instances of medical negligence. Working with a personal injury solicitor which we can provide, they will be able to advise you which fits closest with your individual circumstances and injuries.

    The Cauda Equina nerves which are damaged in this type of injury are an important part of movement through the pelvis and lower body as well as in controlling the bladder, bowels and sexual function. Damage to these is extremely serious and not treating it in time is a very serious case of negligence on the part of your medical practitioner.

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    Bladder And Bowel Disabilities Affected By Ces

    Cauda Equina Syndrome can affect your bowels. Many times constipation can be unrelated, or regarded as unrelated because pain killers or other medications that people take for the other symptoms can cause constipation. The same goes for diarrhea.

    CES affects the way your muscles work so that instead of moving feces through your bowels correctly, they either move through too fast or too slow. The anal sphincter muscles can also be affected so that they open too easily or they cramp shut. Even if your bowels were working right, a disabled anal sphincter is going to be trouble.

    Bowel and bladder functions are affected by a whole orchestra of nerves and muscles. Your doctor might mention micturition. Micturition is a big word for going pee. There are several muscles and dozens of nerves that work together to control the pressure in your bladder, the opening and closing of your internal urethral sphincter, and the valves that prevent the backflow of urine into your kidneys. Cauda Equina Syndrome can disrupt any part of this process.

    If you were previously seeking a VA Disability Rating for urinary incontinence or bowel incontinence, you might want to talk to your lawyer about getting a rating for more. If you have had mild CES for a long time, you might be entitled to a higher disability rating.

    Cauda Equina Medical Malpractice Lawyers

    Spotlight onCauda Equina Syndrome

    Our cauda equina syndrome medical malpractice lawyers can help you to exercise your legal rights to obtain compensation. Our lawyers will deal with your claim using a contingency fee arrangement which means if you don’t succeed in receiving compensation then your lawyers won’t get paid. You will receive a complete professional service from cauda equina lawyers who specialise in claiming compensation for personal injury caused as a result of clinical negligence. For advice at no cost without obligation just use the helpline or email our offices or complete the contact form and a qualified lawyer will telephone you immediately to discuss your potential compensation claim without further obligation.

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    Ces From Lumbar Herniated Discs

    CES from lumbar herniated discs is considered the only absolute indication for surgery. It is considered a neurosurgical emergency with the outcome related to how quickly it is diagnosed and treated. The results of recovery of bladder function are felt by many authors to be related to early diagnosis and surgical intervention. Most authors recommend a wide decompressive laminectomy when surgery is performed.

    What Is Cauda Equina

    Eddie Jones, a cauda equina specialist solicitor at JMW, explains cauda equina syndrome.

    Cauda equina is a serious spinal injury that can devastate lives due to the distressing long-term problems it causes, including incontinence, lingering pain, impaired mobility and sexual dysfunction. When it first strikes, urgent surgery is required to stop its effects from becoming permanent.

    Lower back pain is exceedingly common and, in the vast majority of cases, it clears up on its own without treatment. However, occasionally it can be more serious. At the upper lumbar region of the spinal canal, the nerves of the pelvis and legs branch out from the end of the spinal cord in a ‘horse’s tail’ effect. Anything that causes a narrowing of the spinal canal at this level resulting in a compression of this particular bundle of nerves is classed as cauda equina syndrome .

    These nerves are particularly susceptible to injury particularly those supplying the bladder and bowel, and the most usual cause of CES is a prolapsed disc. Other causes include:

    • Congenital abnormality of the spine
    • Damage during surgery

    For more information about CES, such as what it is, the symptoms to look out for, who it affects and where to go for help, check out our infographic here or click the image below.

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    What Is Cauda Equina Syndrome

    Cauda Equina Syndrome refers to the compression of the cauda equina due to damage to the discs in the cauda equina area of the spinal cord.

    These discs play the role of shock absorbers and in the event that they become damaged as a result of tumours in the spine, surgical errors, spinal injury from physical trauma , inflammation, infection in that area of the spine, disc herniation, congenital conditions and spill out into the cauda equina, these canal nerves of the spine become compressed and severely compromised.

    This medical condition though uncommon is very serious and in most cases will require an emergency surgical intervention between 24-48 hours to prevent further catastrophic and debilitating effects on the patient.

    Cauda equina syndrome results in several life altering and permanent problems which include chronic pains at the lower back, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, bowel weakness, difficulty in mobility, weakness of the lower limbs and in some cases paralysis of the lower limbs- many of which would be avoided if there was no delay in diagnosis or mismanagement of the condition. Several sufferers go on to lose their jobs and some may never be able to secure gainful employment.

    While the condition is traumatic and devastating, it is even more painful when caused by medical negligence. Thus, its psychological impact goes deeper with the knowledge that you would have fared better if the condition was handled expertly.

    Cauda Equina Compensation Payouts

    Cauda Equina Syndrome – What EVERY Back Pain Sufferer Should Know About

    If you or your loved one has suffered negligence leading to cauda equina syndrome or a deteriorated condition, you may want to know what range of compensation values you can expect. We have compiled for you a range of figures you can expect as outlined in the Judicial College Guidelines.

    Range of Compensation Value
    Minor injuries Full recovery is expected

    Because of the traumatic impacts on sufferers of cauda equina syndrome, the value for general damages is usually set high and would depend on the severity of injury and time required to make full recovery if possible .

    Special damages not included in above compensation values include past, current and future financial losses and therefore vary from case to case.

    Special damages include

    • Costs for Medications and prescriptions
    • Mobility aids and equipment including wheelchairs, ramps, grip rails, scooters, crutches, etc.
    • Costs for procuring orthoses such as special footwear or spinal corsets. This will also cover costs of future replacements.
    • Costs for private treatment costs, rehabilitation, hiring professional caregivers or nursing experts.
    • Travelling expenses for medical appointments
    • Loss of income, earnings, pension .
    • Estimated future financial losses
    • House adaptations or new property especially where you have to make adjustments in your home to suit your current medical condition or if you have had to change place of residence to suit your disabilities.

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