When you have surgery, you put your health and your life in the hands of your medical team. However, sometimes mistakes happen during surgery, and these errors can be serious. What forms could these life-changing errors take?
1. Wrong-site surgery
Even though doctors have strict rules like marking where the surgery should happen and double-checking everything before they start, mistakes can still happen. These errors sometimes lead a surgeon to perform a surgery on the wrong part of the body. Research shows that this mistake – along with doing the wrong procedure or operating on the wrong patient – happens to one or two patients per hospital every decade.
2. Wrong procedure
Sometimes, a patient might get a different surgery than they need. This can cause extra problems and the patient might still need to have the correct surgery later. This mistake can happen because of miscommunication, wrong or incomplete medical records or planning mistakes.
3. Wrong patient
Operating on the wrong person can be very harmful, especially if it involves a big operation or removing an organ. This usually happens because of mix-ups with patient identification or communication problems.
4. Surgical instrument retention
Surgeons use a variety of tools – including cutting tools, needles, sponges and towels – to perform these complex procedures. Sometimes, the surgical team mistakenly leaves these items inside a patient’s body after they complete a surgery. This is more common than you might think and can cause infections, pain and other serious issues.
5. Anesthesia errors
Anesthesia mistakes can be particularly dangerous. Overdosing or underdosing anesthesia, not monitoring the patient adequately, or using faulty equipment can cause serious injuries or even death. Anesthesiologists need to check a patient’s medical history carefully to prevent these problems.
6. Nerve damage
If a surgeon accidentally cuts or pokes a nerve during surgery, it can cause nerve damage. This might lead to losing feeling, movement or function in parts of the body, either temporarily or permanently.
Surgical errors, though relatively rare, can have profound impacts on a patient’s health and well-being. Exploring their legal options can help patients and their families get necessary support and hold healthcare providers accountable for these life-altering errors.