Brain Surgery - Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Whilst most clinical procedures are carried out satisfactorily by healthcare professionals there are times when things go wrong. Serious damage, with life threatening consequences, can occur as a result of negligent actions, poor skills, or delayed treatment for a traumatic brain injury. Where this occurs due to medical malpractice our brain injury lawyers can help you to obtain compensation for any damage that you or a loved one may have suffered. A brain injury lawyer will take a detailed statement after consideration of your medical records and will obtain medical opinions from experienced clinicians. No stone will be left unturned in our quest for justice to ensure that a fair settlement based on medical malpractice is obtained. Our brain injury medical malpractice lawyers charge no legal fees unless your claim is settled satisfactorily and you obtain a payment of damages. If you would like free advice from a specialist medical malpractice lawyer without further any obligation just contact our offices.
Brain Surgery
The skills of a neurosurgical team are required when the brain is operated on following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This highly specialised group of medical professionals perform mostly emergency surgery to save lives and minimise brain damage.
A traumatic brain injury can take many forms and each one requires specific treatment :
- Diffuse Axonal Injury (DIA) – A surgical procedure that restores the communication “telephone lines” by repairing damaged axons – the long nerves which are the communication centres through which messages between the brain and the body travel.
- Closed Head Injury – The skull is undamaged, but there is intracranial pressure due to build up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood.
- Open Head Injury - Emergency surgery is required if the skull has been compromised due to the enormous risk of damage to the layers covering the brain (meninges) and/or the brain itself.
- Penetrating Trauma - when one or more foreign objects, such as a bullet and/or bone fragments enter the brain.
Neurosurgery
Each situation demands a certain treatment and the neurosurgical team needs to decide the level of invasiveness is required for each new case.
These procedures are listed from most to the least invasive type of brain surgery:
Craniotomy
A craniotomy is emergency surgery where urgent action is required. Work can be carried out quickly and at the exact location of the injury with a craniotomy, as the skull has been opened to allow for this most invasive form of surgery.
It may be performed using the guidance of computer imaging MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and/or CT (computed tomography) scanning. In order to keep the area completely still, the whole head is often placed in a frame which is screwed to undamaged parts of the skull.
During a craniotomy, the scalp is sectioned away in a flap at the surgery site. A hole is bored through the skull in order to permit the neurosurgeon to drain liquid and relieve pressure on the brain itself. Another option is clipping off leaking blood vessels. Afterwards, the portion of the skull that has been bored is replaced utilizing metal plates and wires. The final stage is suturing the scalp back into place.
Endoscopic Craniotomy
Endoscopic craniotomy is regarded as minimally invasive and is performed by use of an endoscope. An endoscope is a medical instrument outfitted with a camera and light to enable the neurosurgeon to visualize inside the skull. The neurosurgeon creates keyholes in the skull to permit extremely small medical instruments access to the brain. Excess liquid, blood clots and defective blood vessels can be dealt with during an endoscopic craniotomy. MRI and CT scans may assist the neurosurgeon during the procedure by providing real time views of the injury site and manipulation of the medical instruments at every stage of the procedure.
Endovascular Coiling
Endovascular coiling is utilised to reduce pressure created in the cranium by blood leaching from a defective vein or artery. The procedure is somewhat similar to other procedures, such as angioplasty, wherein a catheter is inserted into the main artery located in the groin to access the arterial system. The thin tubelike catheter is guided to the injury location via the artery and heart. Fluoroscopic imaging, a form of real time x-ray equipment, enables the surgeon to direct the catheter. Once at the injury site, small platinum coils are placed in the faulty vein to block the flow of blood and eliminate the potentially devastating consequences of pressure on the brain.
The author of the substantive medical writing on this website is Dr. Christine Traxler MD whose biography can be read here