Opinion ID: 1589857
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: events leading up to suit

Text: In 2003, Walton was injured in an automobile accident. Following the accident, Walton complained of persistent back and right leg pain, for which she sought medical treatment from Patil. An MRI scan of her lumbar spine revealed moderately severe L4-5 spinal stenosis with facet hypertrophy. On July 2, 2003, Patil performed a surgical procedure known as an L4-5 decompressive laminectomy (L4-5 procedure) in an attempt to relieve Walton's pain. About 5 days after the L4-5 procedure, Walton experienced cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage and swelling at the surgical site. She also developed severe positional headaches. Walton testified at her deposition that her pain did not decrease after the L4-5 procedure. Walton went to see Patil and informed him of her symptoms. Patil recommended that Walton wait it out, and he sent her home. Walton's symptoms persisted, and she went to see Patil for a second time. According to Walton, [Patil] just acted like he didn't see no problem. Walton testified that she started going to see different doctors, because every time I would go see Patil he would just send me home and tell me to come back later. It's swelling. It will go away. In July and August 2003, Patil attempted to treat Walton's condition with a blood patch. However, this procedure was not successful. On October 9, Walton was admitted to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for surgical intervention. At the medical center, Patil performed two surgical procedures on Walton to repair the leak. The first procedure took place on October 9, and the second took place on October 14. Patil did not find the source of the leakage during either procedure, and he did not place a drain during either procedure. Because Walton was experiencing persistent CSF drainage after the first procedure, Patil attempted to have a lumbar drain inserted nonsurgically. According to Ravvin, this was `unsuccessful' and Walton continued to experience pain. Walton was discharged from the hospital on October 20, 2003. Two days after being discharged, Walton was readmitted to the hospital from October 23 through 29, 2003, for symptoms of headache, vomiting, fever due to meningitis, and CSF leakage. By early November, the surgical wound in Walton's back sealed, but she developed a pseudomeningocele that progressively enlarged. Eventually, Walton came under the care of another surgeon. On December 23, 2003, this surgeon performed a surgical procedure to repair the pseudomeningocele and placed a lumbar drain. Walton recovered well from this procedure, but her back and bilateral leg pain never improved.