Birth Injury Due To Placental Abruption
The placenta is an organ that develops inside a woman’s uterus during pregnancy. Once a baby is conceived, the placenta forms to supply oxygen and nutrients to the baby, as well as remove waste products from the baby’s blood. The placenta attaches to the uterine wall, and the baby’s umbilical cord arises from it. In...
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Microcephaly Following Hypoxic Brain Injury at Birth
Microcephaly is a medical condition defined by a small head circumference. It is noticeable as a disproportionately small head for the size of the growing child. There are many different ways this condition can develop, including preventable brain injury at birth, which stunts the growth of the baby’s brain and skull. Acquired microcephaly in very...
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Compartment Syndrome, Post-Operative Onset
Compartment syndrome is a potentially devastating post-operative complication in which increased pressure results in insufficient blood supply to muscle and nerve tissue within the effected internal space. Causes of compartment syndrome in the post-operative patient include: being left too long in a position during surgery that blocked one or more blood vessels; or, having bandages...
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Important Reminders for Personal Injury Plaintiffs
How Can You Help Your Lawyer in a Personal Injury Lawsuit? As a plaintiff in a personal injury matter, you are the most important part of your lawsuit. What you do (or don’t do) matters. Understanding this dynamic and completing key tasks will help your attorney to represent you more effectively. More specifically, during the...
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Chorioamnionitis
Chorioamnionitis is a serious complication during labor that may result in serious, irreversible injuries to the mother and child at birth. Affecting approximately 10% of pregnancies, this condition is also known as intra-amniotic infection (IAI). Chorioamnionitis is characterized by inflammation and infection of the fetal membranes (amnion and chorion) due to a bacterial infection. This...
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Incompetent Cervix
An incompetent cervix, also called a cervical insufficiency, is a potentially serious condition of pregnancy that occurs when weak cervical tissue causes or contributes to premature birth or the loss of an otherwise healthy pregnancy. This type of condition has been described by experts as a “diagnostic dilemma”. Because an incompetent cervix can often be...
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Vacuum Extraction And Subgaleal Hematoma
Approximately 5% (1 in 20) of all deliveries in the United States are operative vaginal deliveries. An operative vaginal delivery refers to a physician’s use of either forceps or a vacuum device when a woman’s labor has stalled. Over time, the rate of operative vaginal delivery has been steadily decreasing. However, the number of vacuum-assisted...
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Vacuum-Assisted Delivery And Birth Injury
Sometimes, during the labor and delivery process, the baby needs a little help getting through the birth canal. Approximately 1 out of 20 vaginal deliveries in the United States result in some form of assistance being required. Prolonged labor can be dangerous to the baby as well as extremely painful and exhausting to the mother....
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Paralysis Caused By Spinal Surgery
An ideal outcome in spinal surgery is dependent of the coordination of efforts by the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and neurophysiologist. Because patients are under general anesthesia during surgery, techniques for examining the nervous system for potential injuries can be somewhat limited. Intraoperative spinal cord monitoring (IOM) allows the surgeon to record the electrical signals transferred along...
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Mismatched Blood Transfusion And Transfusion Reaction
A blood transfusion is a common medical procedure in which donated blood is provided to a patient through a narrow tube (IV catheter) placed within a vein in the arm. Blood transfusions become medically necessary for many reasons, including a need to replace blood in patients who suffer significant bleeding as the result of a...
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