This animation may only be used in support of a single legal proceeding and for no other purpose. Read our License Agreement for details. To license this image for other purposes, click here.
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: A laparoscopic colectomy is a surgical procedure to remove some or all of your large intestine. Your large intestine is the final part of a sequence of hollow organs called the digestive tract. Part of your large intestine, called the colon, absorbs water from undigested food to make waste called stool or feces which passes out of your body at your anus. A colectomy is usually done to treat diseases that inflame your colon such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis or diverticulitis, a blockage called bowel obstruction, colon cancer, or a damaged or injured colon. To begin a laparoscopic colectomy, your surgeon will make a small incision near your belly button and insert a tube called a port. Gas will be pumped through the port to inflate your abdomen, this gives your surgeon more room to work. Depending on the type of colectomy, one or more additional incisions may be made. Then a camera and surgical instruments will be inserted through these incisions. After finding the damaged part of your colon, your surgeon will free it from its attachments inside your abdomen. Next, the damaged part of your colon will be removed through one of the incisions. In most cases, the remaining healthy ends of the colon will be joined together with stitches or staples. But sometimes a colostomy procedure may be done at this point to allow time for part of the colon to heal. In this procedure, your surgeon will close one end with sutures or staples. The other end will be attached to the outside of your abdomen creating an opening called a stoma. A colostomy bag will be placed over the stoma to collect feces from your colon. In most cases, a colostomy is temporary. In a later procedure, the ends of the large intestine will be reconnected. If you have any questions about laparoscopic colectomy, talk to your healthcare provider.
"It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Medical Legal Art. We have
used their services for three years and always found their professionalism,
quality of work, and timely attention to detail to exceed our expectations.
We recently settled two complicated catastrophic injury cases. One medical
malpractice case involving a spinal abscess settled for 3.75 million and the
other involving injuries related to a motor vehicle accident settled for 6.9
million. We consider the artwork provided by MLA to have been invaluable in
helping us to successfully conclude these cases.
I highly recommend MLA to anyone seeking high quality, detailed medical
legal artwork."
E. Marcus Davis, Esq.
Davis Zipperman, Krischenbaum & Lotito
Atlanta, GA www.emarcusdavis.com
"Medical illustrations are essential evidence in personal injury litigation and MLA is simply the best I've found at producing high-quality illustrations. Your illustrators are not only first-class artists, but creative and responsive. Your turn around time is as good as it gets. My clients have won over $60 million in jury verdicts and I can't recall a case which did not include one of your exhibits. On behalf of those clients, thanks and keep up the great work!"
"Thank you for the splendid medical-legal art work you did for us in the
case of a young girl who was blinded by a bb pellet. As a result of your
graphic illustrations of this tragic injury, we were able to persuade the
insurance company to increase their initial offer of $75,000.00 to
$475,000.00, just short of their policy limits.
We simply wanted you to know how pleased we were with your work which, to
repeat, was of superlative character, and to let you know that we would be
more than willing to serve as a reference in case you ever need one. Many
thanks for an extraordinary and dramatic depiction of a very serious injury
which clearly "catapulted" the insurance company's offer to a "full and
fair" amount to settle this case."
Philip C. Coulter Coulter &Coulter Roanoke, VA
"It is my experience that it's much more effective to show a jury what
happened than simply to tell a jury what happened. In this day and age where
people are used to getting information visually, through television and
other visual media, I would be at a disadvantage using only words.
I teach a Litigation Process class at the University of Baltimore Law Schooland use [Medical Legal Art's] animation in my class. Students always saythat they never really understood what happened to [to my client] until theysaw the animation.
Animations are powerful communication tools that should be used wheneverpossible to persuade juries."
Andrew G. Slutkin Snyder Slutkin & Kopec Baltimore, MD
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.