Anesthesia is one of the most impressive advances in modern medicine. There are a range of different medications that can eliminate the sensation of pain and render people unconscious. Those medications make invasive treatments, including surgical procedures, safer for patients and physicians alike.
Anesthesia is incredibly useful, but it is also quite dangerous. Anesthesia errors are a leading cause of poor surgical outcomes. Minor mistakes by an anesthesiologist can impact a patient’s recovery or lead to a canceled surgical procedure.
Anesthesiologists are among the most closely-regulated and thoroughly-trained of all medical professionals, but mistakes do still happen. What have researchers determined are the underlying causes of many anesthesia errors?
Medication mix-ups
One of the most common reasons for anesthesia errors during a procedure is a professional mixing up two or more medications. They administer the wrong drug to a patient, which could potentially have catastrophic consequences. The drug that they administer by mistake could produce an allergic reaction or might have a dangerous interaction with the other medications already given to the patient. Carefully reviewing labels could prevent almost all medication mix-ups in a surgical environment.
Dosage errors
A surgeon could make a mistake when reviewing their own instructions. They might administer the wrong dose of a dangerous anesthetic to a patient. Too much of a drug could stop someone’s heart or affect their respiration. Other times, it might be a mistake during administration that leads to an improper dosage. A slip of the fingers is all that is necessary in some cases to lead to the introduction of an unsafe amount of a drug into a patient’s bloodstream.
Improper drug decisions
Anesthesiologists sometimes make mistakes when selecting the drugs that they choose to administer prior to a surgery or during a procedure. Factors including someone’s underlying health conditions, their allergies and their family history can influence the selection of the anesthetics used during an operation. If an anesthesiologist does not properly review someone’s medical history, ask about their family history or test them for allergies, they could give a medication to a patient that is dangerous when a different drug could achieve the same goal.
Patients who recognize when anesthesia errors are preventable can potentially identify when they have experienced medical malpractice. Filing a lawsuit can help people recover lost wages and additional medical expenses inspired by a negligent anesthesia mistake.
