When a person undergoes surgery, they place their health and even their life in the hands of the surgical team. Most of the time, surgeons and surgical staff perform their duties with skill and care. However, surgical errors occur more often than many people may realize. Common surgical errors can have devastating consequences for patients and their families. If you have been the victim of a surgical error, our experienced surgical malpractice attorney at Briggs Law Group can help protect your rights.
Performing the Wrong Procedure
One of the most egregious surgical errors is performing the wrong procedure on a patient. For example, a surgeon may operate on the wrong knee or remove the wrong kidney. In extreme cases, a patient may wake up to find the surgeon performed an unintended surgery like an appendectomy instead of a tonsillectomy. These “wrong procedure” errors often happen because of miscommunication, inadequate preoperative planning, or mixing up patients with similar names.
Operating on the Wrong Body Part
Another common surgical error is operating on the wrong body part or site. A surgeon may make an incision on the left side instead of the right or fuse the wrong spinal vertebrae. In one infamous case, a surgeon amputated the wrong leg of a patient. Like wrong procedure errors, wrong-site surgeries frequently result from breakdowns in pre-op procedures to confirm the surgical site. Marking the operative site beforehand and taking a “timeout” to verify the site again in the operating room can prevent these harmful surgical mistakes. Strict compliance with these safety steps is essential.
Retained Surgical Items
Retained surgical items (RSIs) are objects accidentally left inside a patient during surgery. Sponges, gauze, instruments, and other items used during operations can get left behind when surgical teams fail to account for all tools and materials. The abdomen, vagina, and chest cavity are common locations for RSIs. Patients with RSIs often suffer severe pain, infections, and other complications that require additional surgeries to correct. Properly counting items before and after surgery and using sponges and instruments equipped with radio-frequency tags are important measures to prevent leaving objects inside patients.
Anesthesia Errors
Anesthesia is an essential aspect of many surgical procedures, but errors in administering anesthesia can cause serious harm to patients. Common anesthesia errors include giving a patient too much or too little anesthesia, failing to monitor the patient’s vital signs, improperly intubating the patient, and using defective equipment. Anesthesia mistakes can result in brain damage, stroke, heart attack, coma, and even death. Hospitals and surgical centers must ensure anesthesiologists are properly trained and equipped to assess patients and safely administer and monitor anesthesia before, during, and after a procedure.
Failure To Obtain Informed Consent
Before performing surgery, the surgeon must obtain the patient’s informed consent. This means fully explaining the nature of the procedure, its purpose, the expected benefits, the potential risks and side effects, and alternative treatment options. The patient must have an opportunity to get answers to their questions. Some surgeons make the mistake of not obtaining proper informed consent in their rush to get to the next operation. Performing surgery without informed consent is a form of medical battery. If complications occur from such a procedure, the doctor may be liable for surgical malpractice.
Unnecessary Surgery
Some unethical surgeons exploit patients by performing unnecessary operations. They may exaggerate a patient’s condition, perform a procedure with little expected benefit, or classify elective cosmetic surgery as a medically necessary operation. In some regrettable cases, unscrupulous doctors have performed completely unwarranted surgeries on unwitting patients for financial gain. A surgeon pushing for an aggressive operation over a more conservative treatment or seeking to schedule a procedure very quickly could be red flags. Patients should always feel empowered to ask questions and get a second opinion if they have concerns before consenting to an operation.
Postoperative Negligence
Negligent postoperative care in the crucial hours and days after surgery can negate the benefits of a successful operation. Discharging a patient too soon, failing to give adequate post-op instructions, not properly managing the patient’s pain, and not promptly addressing complications can amount to negligent post-op care. Hospital overcrowding is common in postop negligence as busy doctors and nurses struggle to properly monitor recovering surgical patients. Patients must know the signs of postoperative complications like blood clots, infections, and internal bleeding so they can alert their surgical team immediately.
Damage to Surrounding Organs and Tissues
Surgery takes place in the tight confines of a human body where even a small slip of a scalpel or misaimed stitch can injure healthy organs and tissues surrounding the operative site. Unfortunately, surgeons sometimes make mistakes that puncture, lacerate, perforate, or otherwise damage neighboring nerves, muscles, arteries, veins, and organs the operation never intended to touch. Impaired vision, paralysis, excessive bleeding, loss of bodily functions, and dangerous infections can result. Using cameras and scopes to visualize internal organs, carefully controlling bleeding with clamps and suction, and gently handling body structures with retractors and forceps are critical to avoiding inadvertent surgical injuries.
Inadequate Training and Fatigue
Surgeons must undergo years of demanding training and practice to develop sophisticated skills. However, not all surgeons are created equal. Some have less training and experience than others, especially surgeons still in residency and fellowship programs. Under the supervision of an attending physician, residents, and fellow surgeons perform parts or all of many operations. Overworked and fatigued surgeons of all skill levels make harmful surgical mistakes. Yet some hospitals push their surgeons beyond reasonable limits, letting them operate for dangerously long shifts, sometimes in multiple marathon operations in a single day. Patients often do not know how qualified or rested their surgeons are as they slip into unconsciousness on the operating table.
Defective Surgical Equipment
Modern surgeries employ highly sophisticated tools and technology. Defective, faulty, and improperly maintained surgical equipment can have catastrophic consequences for patients under the knife. Broken tools can damage organs and tissues. Malfunctioning imaging equipment and flawed monitoring devices can deprive surgeons of critical information about a patient’s condition. Contaminated instruments can spread deadly infections to vulnerable surgical patients. Hospitals that fail to properly clean, test, inspect, maintain, and replace worn and defective surgical equipment can be held liable for patient injuries in addition to the manufacturer of faulty tools and machines.
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If you have been a victim of a surgical error, Briggs Law Group can help guide you through your next steps! Contact us today to schedule a consultation.