Surgical Error is a Serious Form of Medical Malpractice

Surgical errors are among the most serious forms of medical malpractice; approximately 98,000 hospital patients die each year as a result of such errors. How and why are surgical errors committed?

Although surgeries vary greatly in scope, patients risk injury any time they submit to any kind of surgery. Surgical errors can be committed by anyone on the health care team overseeing a procedure, from the surgeon to the anesthesiologist to the nursing staff. Health care providers are prone to the same stressors people in other industries are: they are sometimes overworked, overwhelmed, rushed, or inadequately trained. Unfortunately, such conditions can produce errors that often lead to patient illness, injury, or death.
Types of Surgical Errors
The following are common types of medical malpractice through surgical error:

• Commission: In errors of commission, surgeons perform the wrong procedure. These types of errors include operating on the wrong part of the body, performing unnecessary surgeries, and so on. For example, surgeons who amputate the wrong limb or who mix up patients have committed errors of commission.
• Omission: Surgical teams who commit errors of omission neglect to provide patients with necessary care. For example, a surgeon who does not perform an appendectomy when it is medically necessary has committed this type of error.
• Execution: Execution errors include incorrectly performed procedures. Even if such errors do not result in serious injury, they indicate that a procedure did not produce the desired results. For example, a Cesarean section that causes brain injury in an infant is an improperly executed procedure.

In addition to the above categories, surgical errors occur when surgical teams use unsterile instruments, leave instruments inside patients’ bodies, incorrectly administer anesthesia, and neglect to inform patients of potential risks and dangers.
Types of Surgery in Which Errors Are Common
The following procedures are particularly prone to surgical error:

• Childbirth
• Gastric bypass
• Cardiac surgeries
• Thoracic surgeries
• Cosmetic surgeries (such as liposuction and breast augmentation)

Although this list includes types of surgery most likely to include surgical error, it is important to remember that malpractice can occur during any procedure, no matter how routine or seemingly minor.