Birmingham Injury Blog

The Pain Pump Law Blog has posted an article about problems associated with the use of local anesthetic pain pumps after surgery.

In 2004, the FDA published an article that summarized 40 injuries that were reported due to pain pump use after surgery. The injuries consisted of things like wound infection, tissue necrosis and cellulitis. "45% of the surgeries were orthopedic, typically total knee replacements. 20% were for podiatric surgeries, including bunionectomies, plantar fasciotiomies, and others."

The local anesthetic Bupivacaine, also called Marcaine, was used in all injury cases.

The consequences of these adverse events were typically severe and required intervention and additional medical and surgical treatment. The authors’ review of the literature found little had been written to support a causal link between pain pumps and the complications that had been reported to the FDA. Therefore, the authors’ conclusion was tentative and stated the reports may represent sentinel events, i.e., an early warning that is representative of a widespread problem, or alternatively, these may be isolated incidents.

Before pain pumps were commonly used, local anesthetics were administered in small doses and harm to tissue was more rare because "cells damaged by local anesthetics typically regenerate and surgical pain and dressings may have masked such harm." But pain pumps put in a much higher concentration and dosage of medication, thus magnifying the possibility of tissue damage.

Here is a short guide to what we believe are the four critical steps or keys to improving your deposition testimony in your Alabama personal injury lawsuit.

We cover the following topics:

Fundamental rule - tell the truth

Key one - make sure you hear the question

Key two - make sure you understand the question

Key three - make sure you take a moment to think about the truthful answer

Key four - make sure you only answer the question asked, not anything else

Why is answering only the question posed so important?

Final thoughts

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This is funny and makes a good point. Enjoy it!

Yahoo! News has posted an article about the rising numbers of injuries caused by Nintendo's Wii. While useful for exercising, Wiis may also be causing a new wave of game related injuries, such as "Wii-itis." Wii-itis can affect the whole body, unlike the previous gamer injury called "Nintendo thumb," as the games physically engage the whole body.

"Before these types of games were introduced, patients typically presented with ligament injuries of the hand from intensive use of [video game] hand-held controls," said Karen A. Eley, a resident and doctoral candidate at a British hospital. "Now, the injuries seem to affect any region of the body."

Falling off the Wii Balance Board seems to be one of the main causes of injury, according to Eley, and although the board is only a few inches from the ground, a mishap can still lead to anything from soft-tissue damage to broken bones. Head injuries can also result from playing Wii games in confined spaces, she said.

The Wii is also the most likely game to injure your pet, as well.

Having said all of this - enjoy your Wii and just use a little common sense when your kids are playing. I know I lost a brand new TV (first new one in 10 years) to a flying Wii controller from my five year old. :)