Common Surgical Errors in Montana and the Complications They Cause

The word “surgical” refers to something completed with great precision. When a surgeon is undertaking a delicate and risky procedure on a patient, you would expect that surgeon would show respect to a fellow human being and take care to execute the procedure with care and thought. Instead, however, some surgical teams approach surgery like a factory assembly line, trying to see how many procedures they can get through before lunch. The concern is billable units rather than quality care.

Patients often suffer as a result. When surgeons or other medical professionals are in a rush or tired or distracted, they frequently make mistakes that cause pain and long-term problems for patients. It is important to hold doctors and hospitals liable for medical mistakes to call attention to problems and protect future patients from suffering similar (or worse) harm.

As attorneys experienced in asserting the interests of patients in medical malpractice cases in Montana, the team at Ragain & Clark, PC has seen far too many situations where negligent surgical practices caused patients to suffer needlessly. When doctors fail to exercise appropriate care in their work, the potential for mistakes is nearly endless. Here we explore some of the more common surgical errors patients in Montana have experienced, but new mistakes continue to come to our attention regularly. If you believe you have suffered from an error during surgery, even if it is not discussed here, we invite you to schedule a free, confidential consultation to talk with us about the ways we may be able to help remedy the situation.

Performing Surgery on the Wrong Site

While it may seem like a cliché, it is unfortunately based on fact. Patients often awake from anesthesia to find that the surgical team performed surgery on the wrong part of their body. It could be the wrong limb or the wrong part of the spine. Doctors sometimes remove perfectly healthy organs while leaving diseased organs in place.

On occasion, doctors even perform procedures on the wrong body. Patient A receives surgery that was scheduled to be performed on Patient B. There is no excuse for this type of mistake. At least one person critically involved with the procedure failed to check records at the appropriate time. In addition, in many cases, if someone had applied common sense to the situation, they would realize they were about to cause unnecessary harm to a patient. 

Wrong-site mistakes cause harm in two ways—they damage healthy tissue, often permanently, and they allow a problematic condition to persist and potentially worsen. At the very least, a patient suffers the pain and disruption of an additional invasive procedure, and they often lose healthy tissue—including vital organs– that can never be repaired or replaced.

Hygiene Errors

It sounds gross because it is. One of the most common problems patients experience after surgery in Montana is infection. And often that infection is the result of failure to properly clean surgical implements or follow appropriate disinfection guidelines for everyone involved in the surgery. Sometimes surgeons rush through washing or skip a step. Or a patient’s body might not be properly prepared for surgery. 

Improper hygiene or inadequate sanitation of equipment used while a patient is recovering from surgery can also cause infection. This includes central line infections of the bloodstream and staph infections at incision sites.

Post-surgical infections can be extremely dangerous while a patient’s body is struggling to overcome the trauma of the surgical procedure itself. Infection can spread and lead to conditions like sepsis or pneumonia. Unfortunately, if these infections aren’t treated properly or if the body is unable to withstand the shock, the infections can prove to be fatal, leading to the potential for a wrongful death claim. Hospitals and healthcare providers will not readily admit that poor hygiene practices are the cause of the infection, so it requires extensive investigation to demonstrate causation.

Unintentionally Retained Foreign Objects (URFOs)

Also known as “retained surgical items” or RSIs, URFOs are surgical implements mistakenly left inside a patient’s body after surgery.  The items most commonly “retained” are clamps, sponges, and gauze, but there are many different tools that surgeons fail to remove when they are inattentive or in a hurry.

Foreign objects left inside the human body can cause internal bleeding, organ damage, and infection. These objects often cause extreme pain for years because they can be difficult to detect. A patient’s postoperative pain is often attributed to the “normal” healing process or other issues. When a patient finally learns that a URFO is causing their suffering, they have to endure another risky surgical procedure to have the item removed.

Mistakes with Anesthesia or Other Medication

Medical professionals often make mistakes when administering various forms of anesthesia or other medications. Giving a patient a dose that is too high can harm the body in numerous ways, such as causing permanent damage to the brain or heart. If the dose administered is too low, on the other hand, a patient may awaken during surgery, leading to different complications and horrifying trauma that leads to long-term stress and anxiety.

Nerve Damage or Excessive Bleeding

When a surgeon is not careful while executing procedures, they can unintentionally damage a nerve or blood vessel. Sometimes, the work site is so close to a nerve or major blood vessel that damage can be almost impossible to avoid. Other times, however, damage to nerves or blood vessels is a result of careless or inexperienced operation. For instance, the use of excessive force or improper techniques can damage nerves or blood vessels.

It often requires extensive investigation and consultations with medical experts to demonstrate that damage to nerves or blood vessels could have been avoided through the exercise of reasonable care. That means it is crucial to collaborate with an experienced legal team when addressing harm resulting from this type of complex surgical error.

When a patient suffers nerve damage during surgery, they can be left with chronic pain. Even worse, they may lose sensation and the ability to control parts of their body. This damage is usually permanent and life-changing.  

Damage to Adjacent Tissue or Organs

Improper technique or the use of excessive force can also cause unnecessary damage to adjacent tissue and organs. Similar to the situation where a surgical implement is left inside a patient, pain from damage to organs or other tissue may be wrongfully attributed to a normal part of the healing process, and it can take months or years for a patient to become aware that they are suffering from additional injuries that require additional surgery to repair.

Wrong Surgical Procedure

Surgeons who either receive improper instructions or aren’t focusing on the task at hand will sometimes perform the wrong surgical procedure on a patient. They might fail to adequately address a problem by performing a procedure that is incomplete or they might go to the opposite extreme and undertake a procedure that is more drastic than necessary or expected to treat the patient’s concerns. Unfortunately, patients sometimes awake to find that a body part has mistakenly and unnecessarily been amputated.  

Equipment Errors

The practice of medicine and surgery, in particular, has undergone a revolution in terms of equipment use. Doctors and other professionals rely on numerous types of equipment to perform even routine procedures. If the equipment is not set or operated correctly, patients can suffer severe harm as a result. In addition, medical staff do not always follow procedures for inspecting or maintaining equipment. This can lead to equipment malfunctions at critical times during or after surgery.

Many Surgical Errors Could Have Been Prevented

Sometimes, problems arise in surgery despite all precautions. However, in far too many cases, proper preparation or attention could have prevented the tragic errors from occurring. For instance, when a surgical team follows safety checklists and protocols for hygiene, patient identification, monitoring equipment use, and other critical issues, potential mistakes can be identified and addressed before they occur. Errors often result when hospitals and medical companies put too much pressure on staff to rush proceedings.

Ragain & Clark Holds Hospitals Responsible for Surgical Errors

Patients are often assured that the pain and suffering they’ve experienced is normal and cannot be avoided. These statements are not always true.

If you’ve suffered unexpected pain, bleeding, signs of nerve damage, fever, or other unexpected effects after surgery, it is a good idea to consult an attorney experienced in handling surgical error malpractice cases in Montana who can help you determine how to protect your right to compensation. At Ragain & Clark, PC, we’ve been holding hospitals and medical professionals accountable for their mistakes for decades. We know how to evaluate claims and when to call in experts who can prove that a patient’s suffering was caused by medical negligence. If you or a loved one experienced unexpected “complications” from a surgical procedure, call our team today at 406-651-8888  or contact us online to schedule a free consultation and case evaluation to learn more about the next steps in your case.