What is acceptable risk when it comes to surgical complications?

Surgical complications and errors are the unexpected side effects of a surgical procedure. Shockingly, most doctors or hospitals will not admit when mistakes have been made, especially when their own negligence was the cause. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a surgical error or complication, it’s time to talk to us.

Physicians cannot guarantee successful results for every surgery. Complications are considered acceptable risks when performing procedures that may save or extend a life.

However, surgical complications can also be caused by physician negligence. If the treating physician or surgeon performed actions that deviated from acceptable medical practice and caused unnecessary complications, he or she could be responsible for medical malpractice.

Surgical errors and surgical mistakes can have lasting effects on patients, requiring additional hospitalizations, follow-up surgeries, and in some cases irreversible loss or damage.

Common examples of surgical complications and errors include:

• Operating on the wrong area of the body
  
• Performing the wrong surgery
  
• Performing surgery on the wrong patient
  
• Post-operative infections
  
• Leaving items in patient during surgery
  
• Causing damage that was not explained to the patient as part of the pre-surgical briefing.
  
• Gynecological procedures can result in damage to nearby organs, sometimes necessitating a hysterectomy that would have otherwise been unnecessary, or causing trauma to the bladder or urinary tract.
• Improperly performed colonoscopies can result in bowel perforations, causing pain and illness.
• Complications can also affect parts of the body not directly involved in the surgery and blood clots can develop.
• Foot drops or other neurological damage can result from improper positioning during surgery.