People undergo surgery for both medical necessity and personal preference. Whether you have an elective surgery or a critically necessary one, you expect that the surgeon will perform the procedure carefully and that your recovery will be relatively smooth.
Unfortunately, mistakes can and do happen in the operating room. One of the most concerning forms of surgical error involves a surgeon accidentally nicking areas around the surgical site, which could result in extensive blood loss. There’s also a concern of patients bleeding due to the surgery itself and a surgeon failing to address the bleeding before they end the procedure.
Blood loss during surgery can quickly complicate matters
If a surgeon accidentally cuts an artery or vein while performing an operation, the patient could lose a significant amount of blood and require secondary procedures. Doctors should take every precaution necessary to ensure that they don’t cause unnecessary trauma while operating on a patient.
Additionally, it is critical for surgeons to carefully check the surgical site before they close the patient up, or they risk missing signs of internal bleeding. Without adequate monitoring and aftercare, a surgical patient could potentially lose enough blood for the issue to become life-threatening.
If nothing else, missed internal bleeding might necessitate a second surgery and a longer stay in the hospital. That means more lost wages, more medical bills and more suffering for the patient.
Surgical errors, especially unnoticed ones, may be medical malpractice
Mistakes do happen, and circumstances don’t always unfold ideally. A whole host of issues could arise during surgery. However, it is the responsibility of the surgeon to do everything in their power to minimize the risk to the patient in their care and monitor them for signs of side effects.
You may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim against a surgeon who caused internal bleeding or who failed to remedy internal bleeding in a timely manner during the surgery. An experienced attorney can provide valuable guidance.
