Planning to undergo surgery is stressful enough. By this point, you might be facing a debilitating set of symptoms that finally culminated in a diagnosis and treatment plan that includes surgical intervention. Or, you or a loved one could face the sudden need for surgery to address an injury or illness that happened quickly.
Either way, you have the reasonable expectation to trust that your medical team will do their best to prevent errors. While surgeons are merely human, they should perform their procedures with precision and care. In most cases, surgeries go well and patients can expect to enjoy a good recovery.
Sadly, things can also go wrong. At some point, you’ve likely heard about medical errors that include hard-to-believe situations, such as the wrong limb being operated on. Giving these surgical errors a look can help you understand how they can happen and take steps to prevent one from impacting your health and happiness.
Recognize the Most Common Types of Surgical Errors
Although it seems impossible, the truth is that wrong-site operations can occur. Today, many healthcare practitioners use special bands or markers to make it extremely clear which part of the body is being operated on. Performing surgery on the wrong body part often leads to complicated recoveries due to having more wounds that need attention and time to heal. Being in pain unnecessarily can also impact your emotional health as you recover.
Retained surgical items are also a common error that surgeons and their assistants make. Clamps, sponges, needles and other medical supplies can all get left behind and lead to pain, infections and delayed healing. In some cases, you might not notice a retained item for months until it begins to cause enough of a problem that you require imaging tests and other types of care to identify the problem.
Surgical teams typically count and list items they use to prevent this from happening. As one of the most preventable surgical errors, it’s in everyone’s best interest to make clear notes of what items are used and collected throughout the procedure.
When you’re signing medical forms, you’ll likely note that organ punctures are listed in the potential complications. Unfortunately, poor surgical technique can sometimes lead to bladders and other organs being nicked when they aren’t supposed to be part of the procedure. Nerve damage can also sometimes occur when a surgeon uses improper techniques.
Even if you sign a medical form before surgery, you may still be able to receive compensation for damage to your body’s other organs. A knowledgeable medical malpractice lawyer can often uncover mistakes that a surgeon made that led to the damage that shouldn’t have occurred if they had taken proper precautions.
For instance, infections could also fall within the surgical error category. While it might seem like your body isn’t healing correctly on its own, the truth could be that bacteria were introduced to the wound due to improper sterilization of the surgical equipment.
Understand How Medical Professionals Can Make Mistakes
Surgeons perform risky medical procedures with what often seems like superpowers. After all, medical shows make it seem like surgeons are always calm, cool and collected under pressure. But, this isn’t always true. Surgeons can be tired, sick or even distracted just like people who perform other jobs.
Communication errors are a common cause of surgical mistakes. During a surgery, the surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurses must all work together as a team. If anyone fails to notify the others about an important part of the procedure, then failure could happen.
Surgeons can also experience fatigue and burnout. Healthcare management teams must be careful to avoid over-scheduling surgeries or stretching low staffing to dangerous levels. Surgeons should also be expected to show up for the procedure after having proper rest and avoiding substances that could slow their thinking, such as alcohol.
Surgical teams also participate in pre-operative planning that could be impacted by someone skipping an important component. For instance, reviewing the patient’s records beforehand can remind the team of which body part and procedure are involved with the surgery. The members of each team should also be aware of any prior health conditions or allergies they have that could affect the outcome.
Know How to Handle a Medical Error That Impacts Your Life
Medical errors can dramatically delay your healing. In a worst-case scenario, you could find yourself dealing with new health conditions that you weren’t expecting. Facing life-altering medical errors is stressful during a time when you may already be struggling with pain or medication side effects that impact your energy levels and cognitive abilities.
The first thing that you need to do when you suspect a medical error occurred is seek treatment. With a diagnosis in hand, you’ll be able to address your health condition and work on your recovery. You may also need to reach out to your insurance company and seek legal representation.
Many healthcare facilities may deny your claim that the error occurred during surgery. Or you might be told that you accepted the risks when you signed a waiver. Having a medical malpractice law firm assist you with your case can alleviate your stress while you work on healing.
In life, mistakes can happen. However, surgical errors aren’t the same as discovering that someone delivered a package to the wrong door. When it comes to surgery, healthcare professionals have a duty to take every possible step they can to prevent serious injuries, infections and other accidents.
If possible, you’ll want to fully vet surgeons and other healthcare professionals before agreeing to undergo a procedure. Meanwhile, doctors, nurses and medical facilities should also be doing their part to carefully double-check everything that happens during a surgery.
As a patient, you’ll want to follow your pre-op procedures and after-care plan to prevent infections and setbacks in your recovery. Reaching out for prompt assistance as soon as you suspect a surgical error occurred can also help you initiate filing a claim that could help you benefit from compensation that aids in your recovery.