Surgery is scary and often unanticipated. However, most people put their trust in medical professionals who’ve spent years in their line of work, perfecting their skills and knowledge. They expect their surgery to be done carefully and competently.
Unfortunately, trust is often misplaced. Surgical errors happen all the time – and often not for the reasons people think. Following are three surgical errors that can be particularly serious.
Wrong side surgery
For the most part, the body is symmetrical. Therefore, when doctors are reviewing a patient’s records, there may be some inaccurate information, which can cause a practitioner to perform surgery on the wrong side of the body. It can also happen if a doctor becomes distracted during an operation.
Wrong patient surgery
Hospitals are often busy and patient records frequently get swapped. While some people are fortunate to have their records corrected before any damage is done, others, unfortunately, may undergo surgery that was requested for another patient. As such, the wrong patient may have needless surgery and suffer medical complications.
Foreign objects in a patient
It can be frustrating to find pickles in a burger when you asked for none. It’s far more serious when a doctor leaves behind surgical tools in a patient because of the damage it can cause. This issue may not be noticeable unless the patient undergoes further surgery.
You shouldn’t have to feel like you did something wrong because of poor performance from a professional. If you believe you’re a victim of medical malpractice, then you may need to know your legal rights for seeking compensation.