Surgery and procedures
Surgical errors and complications.
Surgery always carries risk, and complications can happen even when everything is done right. Some harms, though, come from avoidable mistakes before, during, or after a procedure.
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Complication or error?
Every procedure has known risks, like bleeding, infection, or a reaction to anesthesia. When one of those happens even though the surgical team did everything properly, it’s a complication, not malpractice.
A surgical error is different. It’s harm caused by a mistake a reasonably careful surgical team wouldn’t have made, such as operating on the wrong site, damaging an organ through poor technique, or failing to recognize a problem after surgery.
Examples of surgical errors
- Wrong-site, wrong-procedure, or wrong-patient surgery
- Objects left inside the body, such as sponges or instruments
- Damage to nerves, blood vessels, or organs near the surgical site
- Anesthesia errors, including incorrect dosing or inadequate monitoring
- Missed complications after surgery, such as internal bleeding, infection, or a blood clot that wasn’t caught in time
- Unnecessary surgery, where a procedure was done without a sound medical reason
“Never events”
Some surgical errors are so preventable that patient safety organizations call them “never events.” They include surgery on the wrong body part or the wrong patient, the wrong procedure, and unintentionally leaving a foreign object inside a patient. They’re rare, and they’re among the clearest examples of care going wrong.
Informed consent
Before most procedures, you’re asked to sign a consent form. Informed consent means your provider explained the procedure, its significant risks, and the reasonable alternatives, so you could make your own decision.
A signed form generally means you accepted the known risks. It doesn’t usually cover care that falls below the standard of care. And if you weren’t told about a significant risk that then happened, that can be a concern in its own right.
What an attorney will look at
- The operative report, written by the surgeon
- The anesthesia record
- Nursing notes and vital signs from recovery and the hospital stay
- The consent form and any pre-surgery notes
- Discharge instructions, follow-up visits, and any readmissions
Together, these records show what was done, what was noticed, and how quickly the team responded when something changed.
What to gather
- The date and location of the procedure, and the surgeon’s name
- What you were told before surgery about risks and recovery
- Symptoms after surgery, and when and how you reported them
- Any later procedures to correct the problem
Questions
Questions about surgical concerns.
I signed a consent form. Can I still have a concern?
Possibly. Consent covers the known risks of a procedure performed with proper care. It generally doesn’t cover harm caused by a mistake, and a separate concern can arise if significant risks weren’t explained.
What if the problem started after I went home?
Care after surgery matters too. Concerns can involve being discharged too soon, unclear instructions, or symptoms that weren’t taken seriously when you called or came back.
Does needing a second surgery mean something went wrong?
Not always. A revision surgery is sometimes a known possibility. The reasons it was needed are part of what an attorney would look at, so it’s worth noting.
Questions about a surgery or procedure?
Tell us what happened in a few short questions. You don’t need your records to start.
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