Agreeing to undergo a surgical procedure requires a large amount of trust. The patient has to trust that the surgery is the best course of treatment. They also have to trust that the professional performing the operation can do so safely and competently. People tend to assume that a surgeon can provide them with an appropriate standard of care.
Between years of experience and rigorous educational standards, there are high expectations placed on most surgeons. Unfortunately, surgeons are human just like anyone else. They are prone to distraction and oversights. They experience professional burnout and cut corners after a long day on the job.
Little mistakes by a surgeon can have dire implications for a patient. A recent study analyzing never events or severe, preventable surgical errors found that they occur dozens of times every week in the United States. The following types of surgical number events are statistically the most common.
Leaving items behind in a patient
The idea that a doctor might drop their wristwatch in a patient during the surgery has long been a punchline. The concept actually has a strong basis in modern medical statistics. According to a recent study analyzing reported surgical errors, approximately 39 procedures every week in the United States end with foreign objects still inside a patient’s body. The surgeon and their support staff fail to account for gauze, clamps or other items. They close an incision, only to later realize there are still foreign objects inside the patient’s body.
Wrong site errors
Sometimes, surgeons perform an operation on the wrong part of the body. They might remove the wrong kidney or replace the wrong knee. Such mistakes limit access to future treatment and can cause a host of medical complications. According to the same study cited above, wrong-site procedure errors occur approximately 20 times every week.
Wrong patient or wrong procedure mistakes
Sometimes, doctors don’t just perform an operation on the wrong part of the body. They perform the wrong procedure altogether. Busy schedules and record-keeping errors might lead to surgeons mistakenly performing a procedure scheduled for later in the day on a different patient. Such errors can have devastating medical implications for the patients affected. Researchers estimate that 20 patients every week experience a wrong-surgery error.
Sometimes, a patient subjected to revision procedures and other consequences initiates a medical malpractice lawsuit over a surgical error. Other times, surviving family members file lawsuits when errors lead to someone dying. Understanding that never events are preventable, and somewhat common, can benefit those preparing to respond to a recent medical mistake.