Surgical errors are relatively rare. Most procedures do not result in any major complications. Even when they do, they are often unpredictable issues, such as a poor response to anesthesia. However, some surgeries have poor outcomes because of mistakes made by the health care professionals performing the operations.
Leaving objects behind inside of a patient may seem like such an egregious error that it should never happen. While that may be true, retained foreign bodies or items left inside patients after surgery are more common than many people realize. When surgeons leave items inside of patients, those patients are at risk of several concerning medical consequences, including the three outlined below.
Physical trauma
The items left behind inside a patient can cause direct physical harm. Patients can be at risk of extensive internal injury caused by sharp or rigid implements closed into an incision at the end of a surgical procedure. Clamps, scalpels and other plastic or metal implements can cause physical damage to nearby body parts after a surgical procedure.
Inflammation and infection
Often, what surgeons and members of their support teams leave behind aren’t hard items. It might be gauze or part of the surgical balloon used to perform a procedure. Those components may not cause direct physical trauma. Still, they can cause significant harm. The body may respond to the presence of those foreign objects by producing a significant inflammatory response. That inflammation can complicate the healing process and cause a host of secondary medical issues. Those retained items can also introduce bacteria into the body and may ultimately lead to major infections.
Revision procedures
It is almost always necessary to undergo a revision procedure after a surgical error results in retained foreign bodies. In plain English, the patient has to undergo a second procedure to remove the items left behind during the first one. A second surgery exposes the patient to the risk of anesthesia again. It also increases their recovery time. They may have drastically increased medical costs and lost wages because of the second procedure.
Pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit over foreign objects left inside of a patient can help pay for care expenses and lost income. Patients should not have to absorb expenses generated by surgical errors that indicate a negligent standard of care.