MICHIGAN SURGERY ERROR LAWYERS

Examples of Surgical Errors

A surgical error refers to a mistake made by medical professionals during a surgical procedure. These errors can vary in severity and can have serious consequences for patients. Some common types of surgical errors include:

• Foreign objects/instruments left in the body: This occurs when surgical tools, sponges, or other foreign objects are inadvertently left inside the patient's body after surgery. This can lead to infections, pain, and other complications.
• Wrong-site surgery: This occurs when surgery is performed on the wrong part of the body. For example, operating on the left knee when the right knee was supposed to be operated on.
• Wrong-patient surgery: This happens when a surgical procedure is performed on the wrong patient. It could occur due to administrative errors or miscommunication between medical staff.
• Wrong procedure: This error involves performing the incorrect surgical procedure on a patient. For instance, if a patient is scheduled for a knee replacement surgery but receives a hip replacement instead.
• Nerve damage: Nerve damage can occur during surgery due to surgical instruments inadvertently damaging nerves. This can lead to pain, numbness, weakness, or loss of function in affected areas.
• Issues with anesthesia: Anesthesia errors can include administering too much or too little anesthesia, using the wrong type of anesthesia, or failing to monitor the patient's response to anesthesia properly.
• Infection: Surgical site infections can occur due to inadequate sterilization procedures, improper wound care, or contaminated surgical equipment. These infections can prolong recovery time and lead to further complications.
• Bleeding: Excessive bleeding during or after surgery can occur due to surgical errors such as nicking a blood vessel or improper suturing techniques. This can result in the need for additional procedures to control the bleeding and can lead to complications such as anemia or hypovolemic shock.

While surgical mistakes are relatively rare, it’s estimated that there are over 4,000 preventable surgery errors in the U.S. every year. Most hospitals are required to classify these as “never events”; in other words, they should never happen. The only reason these types of errors occur is because of medical negligence.