The veteran's residuals of low back injury with traumatic degenerative changes are rated at 20 percent, as the evidence shows muscle spasm severe enough to result in abnormal spinal contour but not by forward flexion limited to 30 degrees or less, ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine, incapacitating episodes of intervertebral disc syndrome having a total duration of at least 4 weeks during the past 12 months, or significant neurologic impairment.
The deciding factor: The veteran's condition was found to meet the criteria for a 20 percent rating based on muscle spasm severe enough to result in abnormal spinal contour but not by forward flexion limited to 30 degrees or less, ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine, incapacitating episodes of intervertebral disc syndrome having a total duration of at least 4 weeks during the past 12 months, or significant neurologic impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of low back injury with traumatic degenerative changes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 19, 2008
- Citation
- 0816395
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0816395.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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