Complete or Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury: What the Difference Means for Your Case

A complete spinal cord injury means the exam finds no movement or feeling preserved below the injury. An incomplete spinal cord injury means some movement or feeling remains. That is the core of the complete vs incomplete spinal cord injury distinction, and doctors use it together with the injury’s level.

When a family hears these words in a hospital, the questions often come all at once. This guide explains each term in plain language, along with the New Mexico legal points that can connect to an injury. It is general information. Your medical team sets the diagnosis and the care plan.

What are the types of spinal cord injuries?

The two main types are complete and incomplete injuries, and both damage the spinal cord. The spinal cord is the bundle of nerves that carries signals between the brain and the rest of the body.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes complete and incomplete injuries in its NINDS spinal cord injury overview. The same page explains that the spinal cord has three layers of protective tissue. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounds it as a cushion against shock or injury.

Doctors describe a spinal cord injury in three ways. The first is whether some function is preserved, which produces the complete or incomplete label. The second is the level, meaning the spinal region where the damage sits. The third is the cause, such as a crash or a fall.

What does it mean if a spinal injury is complete?

A complete injury means the exam finds no movement or feeling preserved below the injury. The label describes what the exam found, not what will happen later.

A clinician checks movement and feeling with a standard neurological exam. The results go into the medical chart with a date. That is why the complete label is tied to a specific exam on a specific day.

Later visits add to the record over time. Families should ask the medical team what was tested, when it was tested, and what the results mean. Written answers from the team are more useful than memory after a stressful week.

What does an incomplete spinal cord injury look like?

An incomplete spinal cord injury means some movement or feeling is still preserved below the injury. The preserved function is what separates it from a complete injury.

Incomplete injuries are not all alike. Doctors describe several recognized patterns, including central cord syndrome, Brown-Sequard syndrome, and anterior cord syndrome. Each pattern leaves a different mix of preserved and lost function.

Families often mistake “incomplete” for “mild.” An incomplete injury is still a serious injury. The label only describes which signals still pass the damaged area. The medical team makes that grading from exams, not the family or a lawyer.

How are spinal cord injury levels named?

Injury levels are named for the spinal region where the damage sits. The regions are cervical (neck), thoracic (upper and mid back), lumbar (lower back), and sacral (the tailbone area).

According to NINDS, the cervical nerves (C1 to C7) control signals to the back of the head, the neck and shoulders, the arms and hands, and the diaphragm. The thoracic nerves (T1 to T12) control the chest muscles, some back muscles, and many organ systems. The lumbar nerves (L1 to L5) control the lower abdomen, the back, the buttocks, and parts of the legs. The sacral nerves (S1 to S5) control the thighs, lower legs, feet, most external genital organs, and the area around the anus.

A simple way to keep them straight: C is for the neck, T for the chest and mid back, L for the low back, and S for the sacrum at the base of the spine. The number shows the position within that region.

NINDS also notes that an injury between C1 and C4 can stop breathing. Those nerves control the diaphragm and help the lungs expand. That is one reason the level matters so much for emergency medical care.

What is tetraplegia, and how is it different from paraplegia?

Tetraplegia, also called quadriplegia, is impairment of the arms, trunk, and legs from an injury in the neck. Because the cervical nerves control the arms and hands, a neck injury reaches the arms as well as the legs.

Paraplegia is impairment of the legs and lower trunk from an injury in the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral spine.

Either one can be complete or incomplete. The two sets of labels answer different questions. Tetraplegia and paraplegia describe where the injury is. Complete and incomplete describe how much function the exam finds preserved. Check the exact wording in the medical chart, because records can use these terms in different ways.

How does the complete vs incomplete spinal cord injury label fit into a claim?

The label is one piece of the medical record a claim looks at. How much it matters depends on the facts of each case.

A New Mexico negligence claim generally needs a duty owed by the defendant, a breach of that duty, and a breach that is a proximate cause and cause in fact of the damages, according to Herrera v. Quality Pontiac. A proximate cause is one that, in a natural and continuous sequence, produces the injury. It need not be the only cause.

New Mexico follows pure comparative negligence. Under Scott v. Rizzo, a plaintiff’s share of fault reduces damages but does not totally bar recovery. When more than one party is at fault, each party is generally responsible only for its own share, with listed exceptions.

A spouse or close family member may have a loss of consortium claim. Under Thompson v. City of Albuquerque, those damages belong to that family member, not to the injured person or the estate.

If a government entity is involved, the rules differ. Under the New Mexico Tort Claims Act, a written notice of claim generally must be given within 90 days after the incident, and a lawsuit against a governmental entity is generally subject to a two-year deadline.

What records should families keep after a spinal cord injury?

Keep every medical record in one place, in date order. The chart is how the injury is shown.

The most useful records usually include emergency and hospital notes from the first days, neurological exam notes, imaging reports, and rehabilitation notes. Together they show the injury’s level and its documented function over time.

Keep a simple dated log of appointments, providers, medications, and changes the family notices. Write down what the team said, and bring written questions to the next visit. Follow your medical team’s guidance on treatment.

For related reading, see our spinal cord injury claims guide for New Mexico.

Talk through your situation with our team

If you’re reading this beside a hospital bed or during a long rehab stay, the words “complete” and “incomplete” can raise many questions at once. The decision in front of you is whether to talk with a New Mexico injury lawyer about how the medical record fits a possible claim.

Our team at El Gringo Law can review the accident and the medical records with you. Your first consultation is free, confidential, and comes with no obligation to continue. Contact El Gringo Law to start that conversation.

Josh Wood is the responsible lawyer for this page. He is licensed in New Mexico and Arizona.