Surgical errors can be serious

When an Annapolis area resident goes in for surgery, they legitimately feel apprehensive about the procedure. Whether the surgery is planned or more of an emergency, it can be scary to put your life in the hands of another person. Most of the time a surgery goes as expected and is successful. But occasionally a surgical error occurs where a person is unexpectedly seriously injured.

Surgeons are highly trained doctors who perform life-threatening work every day. Unfortunately, not every surgeon is as diligent and careful as they should be, causing thousands of unexpected surgical errors each year. Common surgical errors include:

• Wrong site surgery. Although it can be hard to believe, wrong site surgeries continue to happen. Patients have wrong legs amputated, wrong kidneys removed, etc.
• Foreign objects left in patient’s body. Far too often surgeons leave pads, gauze, scalpels in the bodies of their patients which cause extreme pain and infection.
• Wrong patient surgery. Miscommunication can lead to a patient receiving the wrong surgery.
• Anesthesia errors. Anesthesia errors are often the most serious and most deadly errors that are made in surgery. If too much anesthesia is administered a patient can get too little oxygen and suffer brain damage. If too little anesthesia is administered a patient can wake up in the middle of surgery.
• Nerve damage. A tiny slip of the scalpel can lead to a damaged nerve, punctured lung, and everything in between. This can cause a lifetime of pain, infection and disability.

A legal professional who is skilled in medical malpractice can help their client understand what happened during the surgery. They can review medical records and consult with medical experts to get the answers their client deserves. If negligence is suspected an attorney can hold the medical professional accountable. Compensation may be available for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, future medical expenses, and other damages.