Category: IONM

Pedicle screws are used as a common part of spinal fusion surgeries. They grip the spinal segment and connect it to a rod. The screws are normally placed at two or three consecutive spine segments, and a short rod can be used to connect the screws. This can prevent motion at the segments that are being fused.

In many cases, the bone graft will grow, and the screws and rods are no longer needed. At that point, they can be removed with a later back surgery. However, it’s typically recommended that the pedicle screws stay in place unless they cause discomfort. In early procedures, pedicle screws were not used, because the safety of the screws was not certain. However, studies have shown that they are safe and they have been approved by the FDA for use in the lower spine for certain conditions.

However, placing the pedicle screws can be very tricky. Most experts say that only experienced doctors should place them. Pedicle screw placement has been shown to have a fairly high risk of damaging the motor and sensory pathways because of their close proximity to the spinal cord and nerve roots. One safe way to place or remove pedicle screws is through the use of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). IONM involves hooking electrodes to the body and monitoring how the nervous system reacts during surgery.

In general, IONM has been very beneficial in making certain types of surgeries safer, including those near the spinal cord. However, like any medical procedure, IONM can go wrong. If your surgery that is monitored using IONM has turned out badly, you should speak with an attorney. Call me, Conal Doyle, intraoperative monitoring attorney, at 310-385-0567, if you have been injured during surgery. Call to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring involves using certain monitoring techniques to reduce the risk of iatrogenic damage to the nervous system during surgery. Specifically, there are three basic purposes of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM):

– To locate neural structures during surgery;
– To test the function of neural structures during surgery; and
– To detect any injuries to the nervous system during surgery, which allows the surgeon to take immediate corrective measures.

Fortunately, there are few side effects to IONM itself. IONM involves attaching electrodes to the body, testing the nervous system, and monitoring the nervous system during surgery. Any possible side effects are typically minimal.

However, there is a greater risk that the IONM does not perform as intended. The equipment may malfunction during surgery, or the technician performing IONM may be poorly trained or distracted, and may fail to properly communicate with the surgeon.

When IONM is not performed correctly, and a patient is harmed as a result, that patient can seek compensation for his or her damages. Typically, the surgery involves the delicate brain, spinal cord, or nerves, and any damages can be large.

If you have been injured during a surgery being monitored by IONM, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles IONM attorney, at 310-385-0567. He has experience in helping victims of IONM that has gone wrong. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

I’m sorry to hear about the side effects from your surgery. Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring has become popular in recent decades. IONM is designed to monitor changes in brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerve function during surgery, with the goal of preventing damage before it occurs. IONM is typically done in delicate surgeries involving the brain, spinal cord, or nervous system.

Currently, there is no national certification for IONM providers. Typically, IONM is performed by someone who is experienced and trained in monitoring surgeries. If you believe that your monitoring was performed by someone who was not properly trained, you should speak with an attorney. Cases involving IONM are complex and involve studying your medical records, building a case about why you were harmed, showing negligence on the part of health care providers, and more.

If you believe that you were harmed during surgery because of the negligence of the technician who was providing your monitoring, you should call an attorney. There may be multiple reasons your surgery did not go as well as expected. The surgery could have gone poorly because of a mistake on the part of the surgeon or because the technician who was monitoring your surgery acted negligently. On the other hand, no results are guaranteed from any surgery, and the side effects may have been completely unavoidable.

Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney at 310-385-0567 if you have been harmed during a surgical procedure that was monitored by IONM. My team can help. I am experienced in helping victims of negligent monitoring during surgeries. Call us today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.

Your surgery is most likely going to be monitored using intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM). IONM uses electrophysiological methods to monitor the integrity of the nerves, brain and spinal cord during surgery. IONM can help reduce the risk to the patient of damage to the nervous system during surgery.

IONM has slowly been gaining in popularity. There are several benefits to having IONM done during your surgery. It is relatively inexpensive and non-invasive. It has been proven to be beneficial to patients, and has few downsides.

In the U.S., there has been no licensure of individuals allowed to perform IONM during surgery. There are two certifications available privately: CNIM (certified in neurophysiological intraoperative monitoring) and D.ABNM (Diplomat of the American Board of Neurophysiological Monitoring). The CNIM certification is more widely used in the U.S., and it requires education, a certain number of surgeries and testing.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee any surgery will go well. The fact that the person monitoring your surgery appears to be educated and likely is qualified is beneficial, but no surgery guarantees a successful outcome. Overall, your surgery is likely to go better with IONM than it would without IONM. However, there are cases in which IONM is incorrectly performed, and fails to prevent damage to the patient.

If you have been injured during your surgery that was monitored using IONM, call me, Conal Doyle, IONM malpractice attorney. I have experience in the area and can help. Call my team at 310-385-0567. We can help.

What particular techniques are used during your surgery is a question for your surgeon. In general, deep brain stimulation surgery involves placing a thin metal electrode into one of several brain targets and attaching that electrode to a computerized pulse generator which is implanted under the skin. The surgery is designed to alter the abnormal function of the brain tissue. Deep brain stimulation is sometimes described as a pacemaker for the brain, and the purpose is to help treat a number of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and other brain conditions.

Deep brain stimulation can be risky and complex, and typically requires regular follow ups. Brain mapping is a form of IONM (intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring) that records brain cell activity during the surgery to help the surgeon find the intended brain target. In brain mapping, the brain’s signals are played over a speaker so that the surgical team can listen for patterns of neural activity that can help show the location of the recording electrode.

Your surgeon can inform you whether you need this surgery, and the safest techniques to use during the surgery. In most cases, brain mapping and other types of IONM can greatly help the procedure’s chance of success. However, as with any medical procedure, it can go wrong, which result in complications, which can sometimes be serious.

If you believe that your surgery involving intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring was not successful because of the doctor or technician’s negligence, you should speak with an attorney. I can help. Call me, Conal Doyle, Southern California IONM negligence attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) involves monitoring the nervous system during surgery, using electrodes hooked up to the body. There are a number of methods (or modalities) used during IONM. Some of the more common techniques used include somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), transcranial motor evoked potentials (TcMEPs), brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs), nerve conductions studies, and electroencephalograms (EEGs).

The modalities used during your particular procedure will depend on what type of procedure you are going to have, the risks involved, and the concerns of the medical team. In general, the methods of IONM used have the same risks, and none are particularly dangerous.

Although there are few to no risks of using IONM during your surgery, the bigger risk of IONM is that it will not be performed correctly, which may lead to serious complications from your surgery. In some cases, equipment may stop functioning during IONM or the monitoring may not be performed correctly.

If you have been harmed during a surgical procedure that was monitored by IONM, you may have a legal cause of action against your medical team. Call me, Conal Doyle, IONM attorney at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.