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: Your doctor may recommend dialysis, a procedure that removes waste products from your blood, if your kidneys are not functioning properly. Healthy kidneys filter out waste, excess fluid, and electrolytes like potassium and sodium from the blood. These waste products exit the body through the urethra in the form of urine. If you have kidney disease, your kidneys gradually lose function, leading to an accumulation of harmful waste and excess fluid in your body, increased blood pressure, and bone or blood problems. Dialysis can also be done to treat acute kidney failure, which occurs when your kidneys stop working suddenly, or to remove drugs or poisons from your body. In one type of dialysis, called hemodialysis, your doctor will use a machine called a dialyzer to clean your blood outside your body. Some weeks or months before you begin hemodialysis, your doctor will prepare a vascular access site on your body. Your doctor will create either an arteriovenous graft or an arteriovenous fistula to access your bloodstream. To begin, he or she will numb the area with local anesthesia. To construct an arteriovenous graft, your surgeon will make a small incision in your forearm, and insert a soft plastic tube called a graft to connect an artery to a vein. To create an arteriovenous fistula, your surgeon will make a small incision in your skin, and connect an artery with a vein to make a larger vessel called a fistula. Once your vascular access site has healed, your doctor can start hemodialysis. To begin, your dialysis nurse will insert two needles into your AV fistula or graft. Once the circuit is set up, your blood will flow slowly out of your body and through the dialyzer. Inside the dialyzer, your blood will encounter filtering fibers and an absorbent cleaning solution called dialysate. The fibers will remove waste and excess fluids and electrolytes from your blood. Your cleaned blood will emerge from the dialyzer and continue through the tubing back into your body through the second needle at your access site. When your hemodialysis session is complete, the needles and tubing are removed, and you can go home. In another type of dialysis, your doctor will use the membranes lining your abdomen, called the peritoneum, to clean your blood without removing it from your body. Before you begin peritoneal dialysis, you will have an operation to implant a soft tube called a catheter. Your surgeon will insert the catheter near your belly button, creating a port through which the dialysate will enter and leave your abdomen. Each peritoneal dialysis session is called an exchange. First, you will use your catheter to fill your abdomen with dialysate for a period of time determined by your doctor. Through the peritoneal membrane, waste products and extra fluid are continuously drawn out of your blood into the dialysate. Along with the waste materials it absorbed, the dialysate will drain out of your abdomen into a disposable collection bag during your exchange.
"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
"[I] have come to rely upon the Doe Report and your great staff of
illustrators for all my medical malpractice cases. … Please know
that I enthusiastically recommend you to all my colleagues.
Frank Rothermel
Bernhardt & Rothermel
"I just wanted to let you know that after several days on trial, I settled
[my client's] construction accident case for $4.5 million. Immediately after
the jury was discharged, I spoke with several jurors who told me that they
really appreciated the medical illustrations for their clarity in dealing
with [my client's] devastating injuries. They also expressed their gratitude
in being able to read from a distance all of the notations without
difficulty. Obviously, the boards were visually persuasive. I am certain
that this contributed to our successful result."
Michael Gunzburg, Esq.
Attorney at Law.
New York, NY
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.