1 October 2023 was Cauda Equina Syndrome Awareness Day. This is an awareness day held by Cauda Equina Champions Charity aiming to raise awareness of the condition.
Cauda Equina Champions Charity is a patient-led organisation working alongside people living with cauda equina syndrome. Their mission is to raise awareness of cauda equina syndrome (“CES”), support the CES community, and provide bespoke rehabilitation services for people after injury.
What is Cauda Equina Syndrome?
Cauda Equina comes from Latin and means ‘Horse’s tail.’ It is the name given to the collection of nerve roots that emerge from the spinal cord where it ends at the Conus Medullaris ( L2). It continues at this point as long nerves that resemble a horse’s tail – hence the name.
Cauda Equina Syndrome is a spinal stenosis condition that occurs when the nerve roots in the lower back suddenly become compressed. These nerve roots are responsible for the supply of nerves to the bladder, bowels, lower limbs, and sensations to the skin around the saddle area (the area between the legs).
Compression of these nerves inhibits function and generates painful messages as well as symptoms. These are red flags of CES and include:
- Bladder disturbance
- Inability to urinate.
- Difficulty initiating urination.
- Loss of sensation when you pass urine.
- Inability to stop or control urination.
- Loss of the full bladder sensation.
- Saddle numbness
- Loss of feeling between the legs.
- Numbness in or around the back passage and/or genitals.
- Inability to feel the toilet paper when wiping.
- Bowel disturbance
- Inability to stop a bowel movement.
- Constipation
- Loss of sensation when passing a bowel motion.
- Back pain/sciatica/leg weakness
- It is quite common to have a combination of back pain, leg pain, leg weakness, or numbness.
- Sexual problems
- Inability to achieve an erection or ejaculate
- Loss of sensation during intercourse
- Loss of clitoral sensation.
It is a medical emergency that requires urgent diagnosis and hospital treatment. If there is a delay in diagnosing or treating cauda equina syndrome, it could possibly result in long-term or permanent devastating physical and neurological problems, such as incontinence and paralysis.
Cauda Equina Syndrome awareness day
Medical literature suggests that 1-3 in every 100,000 people in the UK have CES.
However, there is a significant lack of awareness of the condition and no clearly defined national pathway for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of the condition.
In 2020, Cauda Equina Champions Charity held the first awareness day, with the aim of raising awareness of the condition.
Cauda Equina claims
Even though the condition is considered rare, there are still a high number of medical negligence claims in the UK each year. This is due to the small window of opportunity in which the syndrome can be diagnosed and treated and if the window is missed the patient can be left with permanent injuries.
Cauda Equina Syndrome negligence claims are particularly complicated and it is not easy to know if your claim will be successful or not. This is why it is always advisable to obtain specialist legal advice, regardless of the circumstances surrounding your diagnosis and treatment.
How can we help?
Danielle Young is a Legal Director in our Medical Negligence team, which has been ranked in tier one by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500 and are members of the Spinal Injuries Association, Law Society Clinical Negligence Panel, and the AvMA (Action against Medical Accidents) specialist panel.
At Nelsons, our expert team of medical negligence solicitors in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham are specialists and well-experienced in Cauda Equina Syndrome claims.
If you are concerned there was a delay in the diagnosis or treatment of Cauda Equina Syndrome, mistreatment, or any other negligence regarding your care, our solicitors are here to help. We will work with specialist medical experts to consider your case and advise if the treatment was negligent and if it caused your injury and assess the compensation you are owed.
Our team prides itself on our friendly and professional service and we are always happy to discuss the circumstances of your potential claim either over the phone, via email, or at a meeting.
If you have any questions in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, then please get in touch with Danielle or another member of the team on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.
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