The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position as trial approaches. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties present such issues to the court.
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this medical malpractice/personal injury case and its proceedings.)
On or about June 19, 2006, plaintiff experienced respiratory distress and underwent a CT pulmonary angiogram which revealed a large right pulmonary arterial embolus. An IVC filter was placed by radiologist Dr. Rich without complications.
On June 24, 2006, plaintiff experienced a profound drop in blood pressure and bright red blood was noted to be coming from his NG tube. He continued to have trouble breathing and a code blue was called. Advanced cardiac life support was started and plaintiff was transfused with fresh-frozen plasma. Dr. Lee was doing rounds of the ICU unit and noted plaintiff was actively bleeding and in shock with critical blood pressure. Dr. Lee placed resuscitation lines in plaintiff’s groin, at his bedside. Specifically, he placed a femur arterial line to allow for monitoring of blood pressure, and a femoral venous line to allow for rapid blood infusion.
Gastroenterologist Dr. Sandrina Ward was called to see plaintiff emergently and conducted an upper endoscopy in an attempt to locate the bleeding source. The endoscopy revealed large amounts of clot within the stomach and duodenum, however, no obvious ulcers or source of bleeding could be found. Plaintiff was then taken to the operating room for an exploratory surgery. The surgery was performed by Dr. Green with the assistance of Dr. Lee. It was discovered that plaintiff had a large hemoperitoneum, the majority of which comprised an old clot in the mid portion of his abdomen and pelvis.
There also appeared to be some fresh blood and generalized oozing but no source of active arterial or venous bleeding could be found. The clots were evacuated and it was noted there was an area of fibrinous exudate on the small bowel, which peeled off to reveal a small enteral defect or perforation. The defect was directly opposite and facing a suture used to repair the mesenteric injury incurred on June 16, 2006. The defect was repaired by Dr. Green and Plaintiff’s abdomen was left open. The plan was to perform another exploratory laparatomy within 48 hours.
Dr. Lee followed up with Plaintiff when performing the ICU round on June 25, 2006. On June 26, 2006, Dr. Green performed a second look laparatomy and closed the abdomen. Plaintiff had improved substantially from a hemodynamic and physiological standpoint. There was no evidence of further bleeding and the enteral closure site was completely intact and sealed. (See Part 3 of 8.)
For more information you are welcome to contact personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.