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.
"For us, the defining feature of effective demonstrative evidence is
whether, by itself, the piece will tell the story of the case. Medical legal
Art provides our firm with illustrations and animations that are clear and
persuasive. Their exhibits tell the story in a way that allows the jury to
understand a very complex subject, very quickly."
James D. Horwitz Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder, P.C. Bridgeport, CT
"Medical Legal Art wins our firm's highest accolades for professionalism and
exhibit quality. In fact, many of the doctors I work with request color
copies of your outstanding artwork to show to patients during the informed
consent process."
Jeanne Dolan, BSRN, AlNC Legal Nurse Consultant Golden Valley, MN
"Thank you very much for the great work on the medical exhibits. Our trial
resulted in a $16 million verdict for a 9 year old boy with catastrophic
injuries, and the medical illustrations definitely played key role in the
trial."
David Cutt
Brayton Purcell
Salt Lake City, UT
"I would like to thank all of you at Medical Legal Art for all the
assistance you provided. It was a result of the excellent, timely work
that we were able to conclude the case successfully.
I feel very confident that our paths will cross again."
Fritz G. Faerber
Faerber & Anderson, P.C.
St. Louis, MO
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.