Types of Surgical Errors

Surgical errors can occur during the decision stage, during the preoperative workup stage, during the actual surgery, or during the post operative period. At the outset, all surgical procedures carry risks of complications that cause unintended injury. So, the first decision a surgeon and patient have to make is whether or not surgery provides a net benefit to the patient, and then choose the appropriate surgical option. If a surgery is not indicated, but it is performed, any injury is unacceptable.

Before operating, the surgeon should perform the appropriate physical examination, laboratory testing, and imaging to prepare for and best perform the planned operation, as well as obtain the patient’s fully informed consent. Failing to properly perform pre-surgical evaluation can lead to unexpected surprises during the surgery and poor negligent outcomes. Although some intraoperative decisions are a matter of judgment, it is negligence if the surgeon improperly performs the procedure. Operatively, the surgical team must be vigilant to watch for known complications of the surgery, such as infection, bleeding, leaks of bowel, or vascular injury. While the occurrence of these complications is not in and of itself negligence, failure to timely recognize and treat them is.

The Impact of Surgical Errors

The impact of surgical errors can range from minor to fatal. Surgery always entails a period of recuperation, but if there are surgical errors, recuperation may become unending. Surgical errors can occur in orthopedic, general surgery, neurosurgery, gynecological, and vascular surgeries, as well as other procedures. Chronic wound problems, chronic vascular problems, chronic orthopedic problems, and chronic pain take a devastating toll on patients who suffer surgical injuries.  A four-week recovery period can extend to months and years. Returning to work may become impossible for some. The physical, financial and emotional distress can be debilitating for both the patient and the family.

Proving Surgical Negligence

Proving surgical negligence requires obtaining all the records and imaging, including the preoperative evaluations and post-operative care records. Then, a board-certified surgeon similarly trained as the surgeon who performed the negligent procedure must review all the material and determine whether there was a deviation from the standard of care. There must be a deviation from accepted standards and not just a bad outcome based on judgment during the surgery. If a surgeon uses judgment to choose one procedure over another and both are acceptable, a bad outcome is not negligence. But if the surgeon uses a technique or procedure that is not within the standard, a bad outcome is negligence. In addition to surgical expert testimony, additional expert testimony may be required to prove that the injury was likely avoidable with proper care. Other experts may include an infectious disease specialist, radiologist, neurologist, gastroenterologist, physical therapist and even psychiatrist.

If You Suffer Surgical Negligence

The first thing to do is to find a surgeon or medical institution that you have trust in and can help you to recover from whatever bad outcome you’ve had. Keep a calendar of specific medical events as soon as you have concern. Keeping a diary of conversations and other events can be helpful, but any documentation of events should be factual more than emotional. Calendars and Diaries may be discoverable in litigation when not made at the advice of counsel, so one should keep that in mind when making entries. Once you believe surgical malpractice has occurred, you should contact an experienced attorney to make certain that all necessary information can be preserved and obtained.

Contact an Experienced Attorney

Because there are several areas that need to be investigated when evaluating a surgical malpractice plan, an experienced medical negligence attorney knows what to look for in the record. Equally important, an experienced malpractice attorney knows to look beyond the surgical issues at the other medical specialties that are required in order to prove both the negligence and the injuries. Often radiological imaging studies need to be reviewed and discussed with both defendants and experts. Familiarity with medicine and surgery is critical to the effective advocacy for a person injured by surgical negligence. An attorney who is also a doctor is particularly useful when deposing defendants and defense experts. If you have questions about surgical malpractice, contact an experienced attorney who can best evaluate your claim and defend your rights.