Lumbar Disc Injuries and Treatment - Medical Animation
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Lumbar Disc Injuries and Treatment - Medical Animation
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: Your spine is composed of individual bones called vertebrae. Your vertebrae form a protective tunnel called the spinal canal, which surrounds the spinal cord as it travels down the length of your spine. On each side of the spinal cord, spinal nerves exit the spinal canal through small bony channels called neural foramina. Your lumbar spine is the lower third of your spinal column. Between each vertebra, a flexible pad called an intervertebral disc acts as a shock absorber for your spine. Lumbar disc pressure can increase by more than 50% when you change from a standing position to bending over, or by more than 80% between a standing position and sitting with no back support. The intervertebral disc's tough, outer ring is known as the annulus fibrosis. The soft gel-like center is called the nucleus pulposus. During a traumatic injury, your spine may lurch forward forcefully, causing your vertebrae to compress the front of one or more of your lumbar discs beyond normal limits. As a result the back of your disc protrudes backward, causing small tears and thinning of your annulus fibrosis. Over time, your damaged annulus fibrosis may weaken and change shape, and your nucleus pulposus may dry out, and lose flexibility. As your intervertebral disc deteriorates, your nucleus pulposus may push your annulus outward, resulting in a disc bulge. Depending on its location, the bulge may push on, or impinge, one of your spinal nerves, your spinal cord, or your cuada equina, which is a collection of spinal nerve roots at the end of your spinal cord. Central disc bulges protrude backward into your spinal canal. Lateral disc bulges extend into your neural foramen. Severe lumbar disc injuries can tear your annulus fibrosis. Pressure from your vertebrae may push your nucleus pulposus out of your torn annulus, causing a disc herniation. A herniated lumbar disc can and impinge upon your cuada equina, or spinal nerves, and cause symptoms such as pain, numbness, or weakness in one or both of your legs. Treatments for lumbar disc injuries may include rest, anti-inflammatory medication, muscle relaxants, ice or heat applied to the injured area, physical therapy, an epidural steroid injection given directly into the area of nerve irritation, and in more severe cases, surgery.
"Medical illustrations are essential during trial for any medical malpractice case. The people at MLA have the uncanny ability of creating medical illustrations that simplify the most complex of medical concepts and human anatomy to a lay audience. The exhibits of MLA allow experts to easily describe complex concepts and human anatomy in a manner that could
not be done otherwise.
In addition, their custom illustrations show in great detail the extent of
injuries suffered and the devastating effects they have had on the client's
anatomy. These custom illustration can show, side by side, the body before
and after a catastrophic injury. The effect of this juxtaposition is
unmatched by any testimony that can be adduced at the time of trial.
Even jurors after trial have commented on the ease with which they grasp
medical concepts and anatomy once the MLA exhibits were introduced and
used by my experts. Even judges who have "seen it all" are thoroughly
impressed by the detail and sophistication of the illustrations.
"This past year, your company prepared three medical illustrations for our cases; two in which we received six figure awards; one in which we received a substantial seven figure award. I believe in large part, the amounts obtained were due to the vivid illustrations of my clients' injuries and the impact on the finder of fact."
Donald W. Marcari
Marcari Russotto & Spencer, P.C.
Chesapeake, VA
"A few words about The Doe Report: recently in a brachial plexus injury
case, we used an image from The Doe Report to demonstrate the injury. We
downloaded the PDF file image, and were amazed at the quality. The hard
copies that you sent were even more clear. As well, we could not have been
happier when you customized the image and reversed the injury from the left
shoulder to the right shoulder, which is where our client's injury was.
The speed and cost-effectiveness of the product made it the perfect tool for
our purposes. We will use The Doe Report again in future cases."
Andrew Needle
Needle Gallagher & Ellenberg, P.A.
Miami, FL
"For modern audiences, it is absolutely essential to use medical
demonstrative evidence to convey the severity and extent of physical
injuries to a jury. Your company's high quality illustrations of our
client's discectomy surgery, combined with strong expert testimony, allowed
the jury to fully appreciate the significance of our client's injuries.
We are very pleased with a verdict exceeding $297,000.00, far in excess of
the $20,000.00 initially offered by the defendant. The medical demonstrative
evidence provided by Medical Legal Art was an asset we could not have
afforded to have been without."
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.
