Red Flag Failings and Cauda Equina Compensation Claims
The red flag symptoms of cauda equina syndrome require urgent medical attention and a failure by medical professionals to understand and act upon this situation may justify a claim for compensation.
Cauda equina syndrome and the significance of red flags
For a patient exhibiting the signs and symptoms of cauda equina syndrome, diagnosis and surgery can be a matter of emergency.
A delay in medical care can leave the patient with permanent disability.
The red flag symptoms of cauda equina syndrome include the following:
- Sciatica-like symptoms in both legs
- Motor weakness in the legs and possible difficulties with ankle reflex
- Altered sensation in the saddle area between the legs and around the anus and buttocks
- Altered sensation when urinating
- Altered urinary function such as having to strain to empty the bladder
- Reduced sensation of needing to defecate
A patient with the red flag symptoms requires an emergency MRI scan to confirm the underlying cause of their symptoms.
If the MRI scan demonstrates that the patient is suffering from compression of the cauda equina nerves, they will require decompression surgery as promptly as possible.
Disability and cauda equina syndrome
Delayed decompression of the cauda equina nerves can leave the patient with permanent and life-changing disability.
They may experience bowel and bladder dysfunction in the form of incontinence, as well as sexual dysfunction and lower limb paralysis.
The implications of incontinence and paralysis on an individual's quality of life can be well imagined. Many areas of employment may become impossible or inappropriate for the person affected. The hours they are able to work may be affected as well asn the type of employment they can undertake. This may result in a significant loss of income, which would be addressed in a compensation claim, if medical professionals are found to have contributed to this outcome.
Accommodation issues may also arise as the individual finds in difficult to navigate their own home. Substantial adjustments to their living environment may be required, even to the extent of having to move to alternative accommodation.
Legal advice
If substandard medical care in diagnosis and treatment has left you or a loved one struggling with the impact of cauda equina syndrome, you should be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Contact Glynns Solicitors, specialists in medical negligence law, to discuss your situation with a solicitor experienced in this highly-specialised area of law.
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