Many people have to undergo necessary surgeries. This could happen if someone needs an organ transplant, to remove benign lumps or diseased organs or redirected blood flow. Surgery can help save lives, but it can also lead to serious injuries.
Surgical errors are a common cause of medical malpractice. One way this can happen is if a surgeon leaves foreign objects in a patient’s body. Surgeons use many different instruments on patients, and some of them may be left behind after a surgical procedure, including:
- Scalpels
- Pads
- Gauze
- Clamps
- Gloves
- Drain tips
- Scissors
- Scopes
- Sponges
Surgical tools left in the body can happen to anyone. Here is how this happens and why it is so dangerous to patients:
What are the dangers of surgical tools left in the body?
If a surgical instrument is left behind in a patient’s body, it could lead to severe injuries and pain. Some of these tools, such as gauze or pads could cause infections. As a result, a patient may need to undergo heavy doses of antibiotics and additional surgeries to treat the infection and remove the foreign tools.
How might a doctor forget a surgical tool?
The American College of Surgeons finds that several factors can play in the unintended retention of a foreign object after surgery. Surgeons may use more than a hundred different surgical tools during an operation, and the miscount of instruments can lead to forgotten objects in a patient. Failure to follow policies, inadequate communication with team members or the lack of focus and situational awareness may also increase the risk of this kind of surgical error.
Patients can reach out for legal help to learn about their rights after suffering from medical malpractice.
