Question
My wife is a Quadreplegic C1-7 fracture with it fused at C4-5 . I was wondering what is the average life span was for this type of injury was. She was injured 8/4/09 .                                              thanks eric

Answer
Hi Eric,  Allot depends on what level of the cervical vertebrae has been injured. If she has C1-C3 level functional loss, then she is more susceptible to have problems with breathing on her own. Thus more prone to bouts with pneumonia.

I am a C4-C5 level quadriplegic functionally, and I have had my share of experiences with pneumonia. Some quadriplegics have problems with blood clots, knock on wood, not me. But maybe the biggest threat is skin ulcers/bed sores.

If people with paralysis are not careful about their skin, especially on their bony areas; Buttocks/Ischial Tuberosity, Coccyx/Tail bone, Calcaneus/Heel bone, and the Talus/Ankle bone; they will develop skin ulcerations in these and any other bony areas of their body.

Left untreated the ulcer can lead to infections, and that includes getting bone infections. Depending on the bony area the person may be bed bound; which leads to the other complications I mentioned earlier. Pneumonia and blood clotting.

As for the life span, I am going on year thirty-eight starting on July 20 of this year. Medical technology has gotten much better over my life time, so most Quadriplegics at the C4-C7 range should live a fairly normal life span, those with functional loss above C4 would probably be a shorter life span, but I haven't read anything to substantiate this either way.

I hope this helps you, any other questions that you think of I'd be happy to try to answer you.

Sincerely, Ken