A Virginia medical malpractice settlement has been reached in the amount of $625,000 in a case alleging the improper performance of an in-office thoracic kyphoplasty procedure resulting in emergency hospitalization for cauda equina syndrome that required surgery.
On September 8, 2021, the 77-year-old plaintiff went to the defendant orthopedic spine surgeon for a thoracic kyphoplasty procedure to treat her T5 vertebrae fracture. The procedure was performed in-office and was the defendant surgeon’s last procedure of the day.
The plaintiff complained to her surgeon regarding severe pain both during and after the kyphoplasty. Nonetheless, the defendant surgeon discharged her to home after the procedure. She experienced severe pain throughout the night and therefore went to a hospital emergency department early the next morning (about 12 hours after the procedure). Radiology studies obtained at the hospital revealed evidence of a subdural fluid leak originating from the operative site and showed that cement used during the kyphoplasty procedure had extravasated in and around the spinal canal and had embolized into the plaintiff’s pulmonary blood vessels.
The plaintiff was admitted to the hospital for two weeks during which she suffered significant pain as well as bowel and bladder issues. She underwent a surgical decompression of her spinal column for cauda equina syndrome and also required manual fecal disimpaction.
The plaintiff reportedly was prepared to offer medical expert testimony regarding the orthopedic spine surgeon’s improper performance of the kyphoplasty procedure by failing to adequately take or interpret fluoroscopy of the plaintiff’s thoracic spine throughout the procedure. As a result of the inadequate visualization, the orthopedic spine surgeon improperly inserted cement into the T5 vertebrae too aggressively and failed to take the appropriate steps in response to the cement extravasating outside of the vertebral body, resulting in the plaintiff’s injuries, pain and suffering, and the need for a subsequent hospitalization and surgical intervention.
The settlement was reached on March 23, 2023, after the parties designated their respective experts.
Kyphoplasty
Kyphoplasty is used to treat painful compression fractures in the spine. In a compression fracture, all or part of a spine bone collapses. A common cause of compression fractures of the spine is osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). The procedure may be recommended for severe and disabling pain for 2 months or more that does not get better with bed rest, pain medicines, and physical therapy. The procedure is also called balloon kyphoplasty.
One of the risks of kyphoplasty is leakage of the bone cement into the surrounding area that may require other treatments such as surgery to remove the cement. In general, kyphoplasty has less risk for leakage of cement than vertebroplasty as the cement is placed within the balloon.
If you or a loved one suffered harm as a result of medical negligence in Virginia or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a Virginia medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Click on the “Contact Us Now” tab to the right, visit our website, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959 to find medical malpractice attorneys in your state who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.