Surgical Accidents : Technical Errors

Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Law

Surgical errors can be technical in nature. During a surgical procedure, there are landmarks which careful surgeons identify and tissue which prudent surgeons identify in order to guide the course of a surgery and to assure that unintended injury to structures not a part of the intended surgery does not occur.

Nerves vital to normal function and blood vessels vital to the survival of organs are often located within a surgical field. It is the obligation of a surgeon to avoid unintended injury to such structures and there are safeguards to be employed to assure that such structures are not damaged. A surgeon may become more attentive to the subject of his or her operation and carelessly bypass procedures intended to prevent injury to unintended organs or structures. This is but one example of operations which fail because of surgical technique.

Perhaps the most common type of surgical malpractice involved the failure to timely recognize and treat complications avoidable or not which have occurred. Hemorrhage following an operation is not an unanticipated complication. It's early recognition and treatment are essential to preserve life and function. Infection is not an uncommon occurrence postoperatively but there are safeguards to be employed prior and during surgery such as prophylactic antibiotics and careful surveillance required after surgery so that an infection can be addressed at the time the signs of its presence first occur. Under the surgical technique the cholecystectomy case is another example and that subject is well covered by text appearing at the site.

Next Topic: Delays in Diagnosis and Treatment.