[Babebahn]

Hi Everyone: I haven't posted in awhile, and hope you are all ok.  Anyway, on Wednesday June 20th I had a cervical epidural that went wrong! During the procedure, it went like it was suppose to, so I thought, I felt a swirling sensation which was unusual. I was told to slide off the table, and back into an awaiting wheelchair, then sent to recovery where the nurse sat me in a recliner and gave me apple juice. Just after my first sip, the nurse told me to get dressed.  I was in recovery a total of 15 minutes until I was told its time to go.  Once home, I spent the day laying down.  On Friday June 22 I had an appt with my dr.  I told the nurse practitioner that the right side of my neck was fine but the left side was painful, she said noted and not to worry.  By wednesday June 27th, the pain was excruciating. My head was hurting and the whole left side down to my toes was in pain, I had to hang my arm because it was so heavy.  I called my Dr office and didn't receive a call back until 5:30 p.m. by the on call dr.  The dr said to take Norco, apply ice, take a shower. He called back an half hour later and you could hear the worry in his voice.  Finally after his 4th call he told me to go to the ER, my son asked him to meet us there or call ahead to alert them I was coming and what was going on he said "I can't call them to tell them you are coming...They will take care of you there"  WROONG! The ER DR said I'll send you for a CT scan to see whats going on, you might need a blood patch or surgery."  I suggested he call my DR and gave him the number.. totally ignored.  Then a nurse in the hallway was talking to another nurse while my son was in the hallway saying "These pain mgmt people come in here thinking we are suppose to treat them when what they really want is drugs."  My son told here off! " For your information, my mother is not a drug addict, she doesn't take the meds like the drs want her to, she only takes them when she needs them which is rarely.  She would't be here if she wasn't in excruciating pain. So if you think for one minute my mother is faking call her dr right now and tell him to get his butt down here to correct your thinking."  The CT Scan showed nothing (per dr) told me to go home and monitor myself.  If the pain gets worse come back, at which time my son said "are you sure about that because your nurses think my mother is a drug addict looking for drugs...is that what you think as well?"
To this day, I still feel the "swirls" in my neck and back...I was sent to a neurosurgeon who told me its just "air bubbles" but my Orthopedic says the dr missed when put in the steroids and fluoroscope stuff... 
So my question is, has anyone experienced this?  Work comp told me talk to my atty...  can't reopen a new case because they said that I settled my case in 2006 and theres not a significant injury or damage...

any opinions and advice would be appreciated

[1171]

You can get treatment under your future medical award for the compensible consequence. You always retain your right to file a malpractice claim.

[Babebahn]

Sorry 1171. I’m in California. As of today, my w/c adjuster said she is shocked that my pain mgmt dr, neurosurgeon and orthopedist are not on the same page or providing any suggestions or guidance. The Pain mgmt dr who did the epidural has decided now that there’s nothing else to do and still doesn’t acknowledge the epidural situation has caused damage... the orthopedist said I could have died

[California_Help]

1.Epidurals in the cervical spine are dangerous due to blood vessels being there. I do not understand why pain management doctors continue to do these injections there.

2.Most patients are not told that spinal epidurals are not FDA approved.

3. There are several products being used for spinal epidurals and one in particular has so many reported adverse events on the FDA website, Depo Medrol. You can request your records from the surgery center to find out what was used for your epidural and what amounts. You may need to list any and all records. Not sure if this will do any good.

4. You may want to check the forms you signed before having the epidural. It should state the possible complications including nerve damage, infection, arachnoditis (sp?), paralysis and death. With that being said, being handed forms to sign without explanation is not true informed consent in my opinion. Did your doctor discuss the risks and possible complications with you before hand?

Google complications from cervical epidurals and you should get some more information.

You can also google spinal epidural attorney's and it may pull up some firms who specialize in this. I don't know if you have a cause of action if it is a normal complication.

There are some support groups for people who have had complications from epidurals. You can try looking on google and facebook.

If your pain management doctor is not helping you, you can change doctors.

[California_Help]

Even good doctors can make a mistake during a procedure. This is why medical errors is listed as the 3rd leading cause of death in the US.

[California_Help]

1171 it seems strange to me that insurance companies continue to authorize this treatment. This is recent information about steroid epidurals for cervical spine. I have also seen patients do these injections as conservative treatment needs to be attempted first before surgery can be considered. I am curious as to your opinion on this topic? A few countries have banned all spinal epidurals.

http://surgicalneurologyint.com/surgical...ed-review/

[1171]

(10-26-2018, 01:47 PM)California_Help Wrote: 1171 it seems strange to me that insurance companies continue to authorize this treatment. This is recent information about steroid epidurals for cervical spine. I have also seen patients do these injections as conservative treatment needs to be attempted first before surgery can be considered. I am curious as to your opinion on this topic? A few countries have banned all spinal epidurals.

http://surgicalneurologyint.com/surgical...ed-review/

Carriers are bound by MTUS. although it may seem that treatment approvals are arbitrary, a company wide ban on any procedure would elicit strong pushback from the DWC and legal community. It took years and state law to stop lifetime chiropractic despite horrendous abuse.

[tinainky]

Wow , I wanted to get another epidural until I read the statistics... I do not want one now. I did have one a year ago and it did help, although I do not want to take a chance and have it done again...