Surgical Medical Malpractice

ATLANTA, GA, February 24, 2011 (Press-News.org) Each year millions of Americans including people who live in the Atlanta area are given a diagnosis and along with it a course of treatment that includes surgery. The invasive nature of any surgery elevates the level of concern for the patient and their family even if they are assured of the routine and minor nature of a prescribed procedure. No surgery is without risk even the most simple of procedures include elements of risk concerning local or general anesthesia errors, risks of excessive bleeding, risk of infection and other risk factors. The risk of human error is perhaps the one that raises concern more than others because of the complex nature of surgery.

Categories of surgery

- Emergency Surgery - As its name implies, Emergency surgery is that which is required to be performed immediately and is usually life saving in nature.
- Urgent Surgery - Surgeries which are not immediately medically necessary to save a life but are required to be performed as soon as possible to address a medically necessary condition or to improve the quality of life.
- Elective Surgery - Elective surgeries are performed for a variety of reasons to improve quality of life or correct a condition that is not debilitating. Failure to perform an elective surgery will not negatively impact a patient at a level that it impairs normal function.

Common causes of surgical errors

Surgical errors occur at an alarming rate in the U.S. Each year thousands of patients suffer from medical malpractice related to a surgical procedure. Surgical malpractice can have serious, long lasting effects on a patient and in some cases result in death. Generally, it is the most extreme cases that receive attention and public awareness. Surgeries performed on a wrong patient or on the wrong part of a patient's body are two surgical errors that get public attention because they are perceived as obvious errors that shouldn't take place. Other common surgical errors include:

- Leaving a surgical instrument in the patient's body
- Poor pre-operative planning
- Anesthesia errors
- Nerve damage
- Damage to adjacent tissue or organs
- Use of unsterile equipment
- Not medically necessary surgery performed
- Incorrect incisions
- Inadequate post operative care

Surgical malpractice like other forms of medical malpractice carries a stigma because of the trust that is placed in a surgeon by their patients. Incidents of malpractice are errors for which there can be a number of contributing factors. The responsibility for protecting the patient before, during and after a surgery rests with the surgeon and other medical practitioners responsible for providing care related to the procedure.

If you live in Atlanta, Georgia and have been injured due to a medical mistake, please visit the website of Robbins & Associates, P.C. today to learn more.

Website: http://www.robbinslaw.com