Category: IONM

Electromyography (EMG) is a procedure that is used to assess the health of the muscles and motor neurons. Motor neurons transmit electrical signals that cause muscles to contract.

An EMG uses tiny devices called electrodes to transmit or detect electrical signals. There are a couple of ways EMGs can be performed. Some are done with needles – a needle electrode is inserted directly into a muscle and records the electrical activity in that muscle. Another type of EMG called a nerve conduction study uses electrodes taped to the skin to measure the speed and strength of signals traveling between two points.

EMGs are used to diagnose a number of conditions. EMGs can diagnose disorders that affect the nerve root, muscle disorders, disorders that affect motor neurons in the brain or spinal cord, and disorders of nerves outside the spinal cord.

The good news is that EMG is very low risk. It’s rare for patients undergoing an EMG to have complications. Most complications, when they occur, are nerve injury, bleeding, and infection. If the muscles along the chest was are examined with a needle, there is a chance that the needle could cause air to leak into the area between the lungs and chest wall, which can cause a lung to collapse.

If you have been harmed by an EMG, call me, Conal Doyle. I have experience in handling cases involving types of medical monitoring, such as EMG. Call my office today at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is not done with all surgeries. It is normally done with any surgeries in which there is a risk to the nervous system. That doesn’t mean that the surgery has to be performed on the nervous system – instead, the surgery may involve a risk to the nervous system.

IONM involves measuring the integrity of the nerves, brain, spinal cord, and other structures during surgery. The goal is to reduce damage to the nervous system, as well as to provide guidance to the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. IONM normally involves hooking electrodes to the body which will read signals from the nervous system, which can help let the surgeon know how the body is responding during surgery.

In most cases, neuromonitoring is done by spinal surgeons, but many other types of surgeons may use neuromonitoring as well, including neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, urology surgeons, and orthopedic surgeons. During any surgery involving the spinal column, there is risk to the spinal cord. In most cases, neuromonitoring goes well and can help to reduce the risk of danger to the patient. However, in a few cases it can go badly, and may actually cause damage to the patient by leading a surgeon to be more aggressive, believing that the surgery is going well when it is not.

If you have been seriously injured during a surgery that was monitored by IONM, it may be time to speak with an attorney. You have legal rights, and you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney at 310-385-0567. We can help. My team has experience in handling cases involving injuries during IONM, and we are happy to talk with you about your case. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Transcranial Doppler imaging is a type of ultrasound using a Doppler. The ultrasound measures the velocity of blood flow through the brain’s blood vessels. Transcranial Doppler imaging can be used to diagnose hemorrhages, clots, emboli, sickle cell disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cerebral circulatory arrest. They are also done in conjunction with other tests, including MRIs and CT scans.

Transcranial Doppler is a form of intraoperative monitoring, and it works by emitting a high-frequency sound wave that bounces off various substances in the body. Echoes that are produced are detected by a sensor in the probe. The echoes can determine the speed and direction that blood is travelling.

Transcranial Doppler imaging is one type of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). It can help surgeons monitor the body’s responses during delicate procedures. Your doctor can better advise you of the risks of transcranial Doppler imaging. Like all medical procedures, it has risks and benefits. In some rare cases, patients can be harmed during the procedure, and in some cases that harm is caused by the negligence of medical professionals.

If you or a loved one has been harmed during a procedure involving transcranial Doppler imaging, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney at 310-385-0567. My team has experience with cases involving intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, and may be able to help you. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

That’s a complex question. The term “standard of care” is used by medical malpractice attorneys in malpractice cases. The standard of care is typically defined as what other similarly trained attorneys in the same geographic area with about the same amount of experience would do in a particular situation.

Intraoperative neuromonitoring means monitoring the nervous system during certain surgical procedures to ensure that the body is responding as it is supposed to. In some intraoperative neuromonitoring cases, the monitoring is not correctly performed and the surgery goes poorly.

To determine whether or not medical malpractice has occurred, in most cases you look at the standard of care and compare it with what actually happened. Currently, there is no clear medical standard of care for intraoperative neuromonitoring or for when it should occur. Some surgeons who perform spinal surgeries use it in all of their cases, and some use it in only some surgeries. Some surgeons do not use it at all because of a belief that it does little to help with safety.

However, just because standards of care in intraoperative neuromonitoring do not exist or are still developing does not mean that you cannot seek compensation if you are harmed during a procedure involving intraoperative neuromonitoring. Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney if you had a surgical procedure that was being monitored go wrong. My team can help. Call us today at 310-385-0567 to learn more.

Your doctor is probably the best person to make that decision. He or she can help you weigh the risks and rewards of not only having the surgery done, but also having the procedure monitored while it is being done. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring involves the monitoring of the nervous system using electrodes and other methods during surgery, which can help reduce the risk of complications, particularly during delicate surgeries.

A recent study of low risk spinal surgeries, such as decompression and spinal fusion, found that intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring significantly reduced the rate of neurologic complications when compared with patients who were not monitored. Critics claim that monitoring is not necessary for simple, straightforward procedures and that it has been overused, which can increase the cost of surgeries.

The study found that monitoring can actually save health care costs in the long run, when considering how much fewer complications there are when a surgery is monitored. Complications are reduced by almost half when the surgery is monitored.

Many patients are unaware that intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring exists. When the patients become aware that it is an option, many opt for it. However, like any other procedure it is not without risks. Typically, the greatest risk is not from the monitoring itself, but from the complications that may result if it is not performed correctly. If not performed correctly, the surgeon may proceed as if the surgery is being properly monitored and serious complications could result.

If you or a loved one has been harmed during a surgery that was being monitored by intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney. I have experience in handling IONM malpractice cases and may be able to help. Call today at 310-385-0567 to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Somatosensory evoked potentials are brain waves that are used during surgery to assess the function of a patient’s spinal cord during surgery. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) can be valuable in alerting the surgeon to any problems with a patient’s spinal cord before it becomes too late.

SSEP tests measure the electrical activity of the brain that results from the stimulation of touch. SSEPs are recorded by stimulating peripheral nerves, such as the ulnar nerve, the median nerve, or the tibial nerve, often with an electrical stimulus. The patient’s response is then recorded from the patient’s scalp. Those responses can provide, among other things, evidence of abnormality during surgery, signs of any lesions, and general evidence about the patient’s brain and spinal cord.

SSEP tests may be used during your surgery. You should ask your surgeon to find out exactly what is done, but generally, SSEP tests are one form of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. IONM are a category of techniques used during surgery that monitors brain and nervous system activity to determine if a surgery is going well.

If you have an upcoming surgery that will use an SSEP test, speak with your doctor about it. In general, SSEP tests, as well as other forms of IONM, are very safe, and can help prevent damage before it occurs. However, as with any medical procedure, in some situations IONM may not be performed correctly, and harm can result.

Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney, if you have had a surgery that was monitored with SSEP tests or IONM go badly. You may be entitled to damages for medical malpractice. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case. My team can be reached at 310-385-0567.

That’s a very good question. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring involves the use of electrodes during surgery to gauge how the body’s nervous system is responding during surgery. It has been shown to help reduce, in most cases, the incidence of problems during the surgery.

In order to sue a doctor for medical malpractice, you must be able to show that a doctor-patient relationship existed, the doctor was negligent, and you were harmed as a result of that negligence. To find a doctor negligent, it must be shown that his or her conduct fell below a generally accepted standard of medical care. Normally, the testimony of another medical expert is used to show what standard of medical care is commonly met by similar competent professionals in the area.

Whether a doctor could be held liable for malpractice for failing to use IONM during surgery could be a tricky issue. It’s true that by failing to use IONM to monitor your surgery, there was a missed opportunity to be aware of problems before it was too late to stop the surgery. However, not all doctors use IONM during surgery. You will need to prove that other doctors in your doctor’s specialty, and for your type of surgery, use IONM to prevent problems, and that your doctor failed to do so.

If you have any questions about intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) and medical malpractice, call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. I have experience in IONM malpractice cases. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

I am not a doctor. If you have questions about your surgery, and how it will affect your pregnancy, you should speak with your surgeon and your obstetrician about your concerns.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) involves hooking electrodes to the body which monitor how the body responds during surgery. Normally, IONM is performed during delicate surgeries involving the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. IONM can help prevent any damage from occurring to the body before it happens.

There have been no long-term studies on the effects of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring on pregnancy. However, there have been reports of doctors successfully monitoring surgeries using IONM on pregnant patients. Typically, most doctors try to put off surgery while a patient is pregnant, so if a patient is undergoing surgery while pregnant, it’s likely a critical surgery for which IONM can help produce a positive result.

If you are pregnant and you need surgery, and your doctor has discussed IONM with you, you should consider all of your options and maybe seek out a second opinion. IONM is beneficial in the vast majority of cases. In some rare situations, it does go wrong. When that happens, it is not being properly performed, and patients can be harmed as a result.

If you have been harmed during a surgery that was monitored by IONM, call me, Conal Doyle, IONM malpractice attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. I have experience in IONM malpractice cases, and will provide you with a free consultation on your case. Call to learn more.

I am not a doctor, and if you have any concerns about any upcoming medical procedure, you should consult with your doctor. This is particularly true since you have specific concerns about your pacemaker and the procedure that will be performed.

Although I am not a doctor, I am a personal injury attorney who has experience in medical malpractice cases involving intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). I have helped clients who have been harmed when IONM goes wrong during surgery.

Studies have shown that pacemakers and defibrillators are not at risk for malfunctioning during IONM. However, there is always a concern that because IONM involves electrical impulses, and electrical impulses can interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators, that the patient could be harmed.

IONM has been shown to be beneficial in preventing complications during surgery. If your doctor has recommended IONM, you should at least seriously consider following his or her recommendations. However, some patients have suffered serious harm when IONM was incorrectly performed.

If you believe that you have been harmed during a procedure which was monitored by intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring, call me, Conal Doyle, IONM malpractice attorney. I can help. Call today at 310-385-0567 to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Typically, if something goes wrong during a medical procedure, including a procedure in which intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring was done, you may be able to sue if you can show the medical provider committed medical malpractice. This is true even if you signed a consent form.

Medical consent forms normally disclose the risks of the procedure, possible complications, and may contain further information about the procedure. The medical consent form is not a waiver in which you give up all rights to legal compensation in the event something goes wrong. Instead, it just shows that you have been notified that there can be some complications involved in the procedure, so that you will be unable to claim later that you were unaware there were potential complications involved.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring involves hooking electrodes to the body to monitor how the body reacts during surgery. This is typically done during surgeries involving the brain, spinal cord, nervous system, or other delicate surgeries. IONM can alert the surgeon if something is going wrong, and can in many cases prevent further damage. However, IONM can go awry. The equipment may malfunction or the technician may not be properly trained. In that case, you can potentially hold your medical providers liable for malpractice.

Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM malpractice attorney if you believe that you were harmed during a procedure in which intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring was performed. You have legal rights. Call today at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.