If someone’s carelessness caused your spondylolisthesis in a Florida, cruise or boat accident, you may have a personal injury claim.
What is Spondylolisthesis?
If a stress fracture weakens the bone to the point that it cannot keep its normal position, the vertebra can start to move out of place. This condition is called spondylolisthesis. If too much slippage happens, the bones may start to press on nerves and surgery may be required to fix the condition.
In this article, I concentrate on what a DEFENSE radiologist will likely say when you have spondylolisthesis. The careless party’s insurer may have a radiologist read the MRI. I refer to this radiologist as a defense radiologist.
Defense radiologists are usually much more conservative than the claimant’s radiologist. This means that if your injury is in the “gray area”, the defense radiologist is much more likely to side with the diagnosis that will favor the insurance company.
By knowing what the defense radiologist will most likely say, you are in a better position to estimate the fair settlement value.
Can spondylolisthesis be aggravated and made painful as a result of trauma from a car accident, or slip and fall?
A defense radiologist will say yes. In Florida, you may be entitled to recover pain and suffering damages for an aggravation of a pre-existing condition. In some Florida auto accident cases, you may need to meet the tort threshold to be able to recover for pain, suffering, mental anguish, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life.
Can spondylolisthesis cause no pain?
Yes. It may cause no pain.
When can a radiologist tell that spondylolisthesis is painful?
On an MRI scan, you can tell the protrusions that are going to be painful, if they are associated with inflammatory changes in the endplates because they have instability. If there is instability, then it can be painful and you get modic type one inflammatory endplate signal.
Inflammatory changes in the endplates increases the full value of the pain and suffering component of the injured person’s damages. Instability increases the full value of the pain and suffering component, as you have modic type one inflammatory endplate signal.
If you have spondylolisthesis without modic type one inflammatory endplate signal, then the full value of the pain and suffering component is less.
What will a defense radiologist say if the MRI scan shows no evidence of instability, and no inflammation involving the endplates?
The defense doctor will generally say that there is no evidence that it would cause symptoms from a scan standpoint. This would decrease the full value of the pain and suffering component case.
Can spurring begin in as little as six (6) months after trauma?
Defense radiologists will likely say that they do not think so. The defense radiologist may say that the experimental studies say that spurring takes a minimum of two (2) years. This is from a study where they injected chymopapain into discs and collapsed them acutely.
Are lumbar nerves that are compressed because of stenosis much more likely to be aggravated by trauma than lumbar nerves that are not subject to stenosis?
The defense radiologist will likely say yes. Therefore, the full value of the pain and suffering component is likely to be higher if someone who is claiming pain from a compressed lumbar nerve that had spinal stenosis before the accident.
Did someone’s carelessness cause your spondylolisthesis in an accident in Florida, or on a cruise or boat? Did you suffer another injury?
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