Case involves a then 58 year old female patient who underwent a C5-C6 epidural injection with dexamethasone. Immediately following the procedure as she awoke in recovery, patient complained of extreme pain in her left arm and could not feel or move her right arm. The right side of her body was also numb and she began to lose feeling in her legs. She was sent to the ER via EMS.
An MRI of the cervical spine completed after her arrival to the ER was interpreted as showing diffuse spinal edema extending from C2 through C7. The patient did regain motor function in her lower extremities and right arm, however, she continues to suffer ongoing issues including but not limited to right sided numbness including her trunk, tingling in both arms with hypersensitivity to touch. MRIs of the cervical spine that have been completed periodically since the injury have continued to demonstrate abnormalities between C2 and C7.
I am looking to retain a neurologist with experience in spinal cord injury who can address the mechanism of injury in relation to the patient's acute and now chronic symptomatology and her findings on the diagnostic imaging.
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Do you believe there might have been medical error?
There is MRI evidence of spinal cord injury. This would cause weakness, numbness, loss of balance etc. Radiography should be evaluated for a needle track puncture into the spinal cord which would explain the spinal cord edema/injury.
Do you believe there might have been causation (i.e. the medical error resulted in an injury)?
There is MRI evidence of spinal cord injury. This would cause weakness, numbness, loss of balance etc. Radiography should be evaluated for a needle track puncture into the spinal cord which would explain the spinal cord edema/injury.
What makes you a good expert for this case?
I am a board certified neurologist and neurocritical care physician at an academic medical center. I take care of hundreds of patients with spinal cord injury per year and in doing so evaluate the cause of injury. I have authored over 100 peer reviewed articles on neurological injury. I have served as an expert on several cases and have provided live trial and deposition testimony for both the defense and plaintiff.
How often do you encounter cases similar to this one in your practice?
I take care of 100s of patients with spinal cord injury per year.
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