Surgical procedures are often medically necessary. They are also among the most invasive and dangerous types of healthcare that people may require. Many things can go wrong during surgery. Patients might have a poor reaction to anesthesia in some cases. Other times, surgeons might make mistakes. They could accidentally nick vascular tissue, resulting in dangerous blood loss. Small mistakes can have major consequences in the operating theater.
Particularly egregious mistakes can potentially have life-altering consequences for the affected patient. One of the worst and most common serious surgical errors involves a surgeon leaving foreign objects inside a patient’s body after a procedure. That mistake could have major medical implications for the patient, including the three outlined below.
The risk of physical trauma
The nature of the items left inside the patient determines the degree of immediate injury risk. Rigid items including clamps are particularly dangerous. Any movement when the patient comes out of anesthesia could result in the retained item causing damage to the surrounding tissue. People can suffer nerve damage or experience internal bleeding. The physical trauma caused by retained foreign bodies can cause major, sometimes even fatal, complications.
The possibility of infection
Retained foreign bodies do not belong inside a human’s body. The immune system understands that and may produce an inflammatory response that can be somewhat dangerous. While the items brought into a surgical theater are typically sterile, their prolonged presence in the human body could still potentially trigger a major infection. Items that may not cause physical trauma, like gauze or part of a surgical balloon, could cause a severe inflammatory response or an infection.
The need for a revision procedure
People cannot go on with their lives as though nothing happened after a surgeon leaves items inside of them. They need to have a corrective procedure to remove those foreign objects. Undergoing a second surgery soon after an initial procedure is incredibly dangerous. There are more opportunities for complications when patients must undergo more than one surgical procedure. There’s also the expense of the procedure to consider, as well as the impact of the prolonged recovery required on their income.
Patients affected by major surgical mistakes may need help holding health care providers accountable. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in response to a surgical mistake can potentially help cover medical costs and lost wages. Surgeons should never leave items behind in patients, and when they do, it is typically malpractice.
