What happens when a surgical instrument is left inside the body after surgery?
Having to undergo surgery of any kind is particularly stressful, but most patients don’t worry about leaving the hospital with foreign objects in their bodies. However, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), surgical instruments left inside the body after surgery is a real issue for surgeons and hospitals. NCBI estimates that surgical instruments are left inside patients between 0.3 and 1.0 per 1,000 abdominal operations.
It is estimated that approximately 28 million surgeries are performed every year in the U.S.; of those 28 million surgeries, it is estimated that there are about 1,500 cases of retained surgical instruments, primarily in the abdomen, pelvis, and retroperitoneum.
If you or a loved one has undergone surgery in which a surgical instrument of some type was left inside your body, you may have the grounds to file a medical malpractice claim.
Potential complications
Some of the surgical instruments more commonly left inside a patient include:
- Sponges
- Scalpels
- Scissors
- Clamps
- Forceps
- Retractors
- Drain tips
- Needles
- Tubes
- Surgical masks and/or gloves
Negligence due to human error is why it happens. Inaccurate accounting of the tools used can be the result of:
- Fatigue
- Improperly managed accounting systems
- Chaotic conditions in cases requiring emergency surgery
- Unexpected changes that happen during a surgical procedure
- Multiple procedures involving more than one surgical team
- Procedure resulting in greater blood loss
Who is responsible for these errors? Hospitals typically rely on surgical nurses or technicians to keep track of the number of surgical instruments and tools that are used during a procedure, but it is the responsibility of the entire surgical team to make sure that they are keeping records of the instruments they are using and that they have accounted for all of them at the completion of the surgery.
Complications from surgical instruments left inside the body can result in serious health problems and may even result in a patient’s death. In some cases, a patient can go for months or even years before becoming aware of the foreign object remaining in their body. In other cases, the consequences are more serious, including:
- Infections
- Severe pain
- Digestive system problems
- Fever
- Swelling
- Internal bleeding
- Internal organ damage
- Obstructions
- Prolonged hospital stays
- Additional surgical procedure to remove the object
- Death
What should you do next?
To prevent post-surgical complications due to surgical instruments that are left inside a patient’s body, it’s crucial that the surgeon and his or her team follow guidelines and safety protocols in place to ensure that no instruments are left inside their patients.
However, if you feel that you’ve been injured due to negligence on the part of a surgeon or other healthcare provider and have a medical malpractice claim, you need to work with a medical malpractice attorney because these types of cases are very complex.
Scott S. Harris, medical malpractice attorney in San Diego, has been successfully litigating medical malpractice cases in Southern California for over 30 years. Schedule a free consultation for Scott Harris to review your situation and determine whether you have grounds to take legal action.