3/31/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly On the other hand, the NLRC upheld Dr. Celino's medical report which stated the following: MRI of the Lumbosacral spine was unremarkable. Patient was subsequently cleared by the Orthopedic specialist. During physical therapy, she was noted to do sit ups and planking/core exercises without complaints. However, the patient still claims of low back pain (graded 5/10), subjective) during activities (i.e., walking, carrying her bag) but her symptom is relieved by rest. No further work-ups or treatment is warranted. Ms. Briones was advised to continue home exercises and that pain is foreseen to improve with time. Final Impression: Lumbago, Resolved, S/P 15 Physical Therapy Sessions. The patient is cleared from the Orthopedic specialist. Ms. Briones has been discharged from post medical care as of 27 November 2015.[31] A perusal of the Medical Report issued by Dr. Celino, the company-designated physician, would reveal that it failed to state a definite assessment of Briones' fitness or unfitness to work, or to give a disability rating of her injury. As it is, the report lacked substantiation on the medical condition of Briones concerning her fitness to return to the type of work she was performing at the time of her injury. What was clear in the medical report is that Briones has not fully recovered from her injury as she "was advised to continue home exercises and that pain is foreseen to improve with time" and that she has to undergo "15 Physical Therapy Sessions." With such statements, Dr. Celino, in effect, admits that the pain experienced by Briones is still subsisting and that it is thru the passage of time that it was expected to improve. On the other hand, the Medical Report dated March 10, 2016 issued. by Dr. Magtira gave an explanation on the nature, cause, effects, and possible treatment of the injury sustained by Briones. Unlike Dr. Celino's medical report which merely describes the MRI of the Lumbosacral spine as "unremarkable", Dr. Magtira's report on the MRI of the Thoraco-Lumbar Spine (Non-Contrast) conducted on Briones on February 4, 2016, contained the following impression: "L4-L5: Mild bilateral neural foraminal narrowing due to disc bulge; L5-SJ: Mild bilateral neural foraminal narrowing due to disc bulge and facet hypertrophy; Facet arthrosis and ligamentum flavum hypertrophy; Mild lumbar curvature to the right may be positional versus mild lumbar dextroscoliosis; Small non-specific pelvic fluid; Small uterine myomas." Consistent with the result of the said MRI, Dr. Magtira explained that, "The significance of this posterior bulge of the degenerated disc is that this is the area where the nerves run that supply the extremities. This patient has been complaining of back pain. The vast majority of patients responded well to non-surgical treatment though. Probably the most important of which is time, that is to say, that no matter what is done, most cases of acute back and neck pain slowly resolve if given enough time to get better." He adds that, "If a long term and more permanent result are desired however, she should refrain from activities producing torsional stress on the back and those that require repetitive bending and lifting. Things Ms. Briones is expected to do as a Sea woman." Prescinding from the foregoing, the Court, thus, finds Dr. Magtira 's assessment as exhaustive and more reflective of the medical condition of Briones especially so since both medical reports acknowledged the passage of time as a key factor in resolving the back pain experienced by Briones. A total disability does not require that the employee https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66202 8/10