Post-Operative Malpractice
All surgery carries a certain risk of complications. Because of those risks, patients must be closely monitored following a surgical procedure. When a patient does not receive adequate post-operative care and becomes seriously ill or injured, the health care providers, including doctors and nurses, may have neglected their duty to provide adequate post-operative care. The legal term for that negligence is post-operative malpractice.
According to a recent study, nearly 20 percent of patients experience an adverse event within three weeks of discharge. Nearly three-fourths of those adverse events could have been prevented, the study found. Adverse drug events are the most common post-discharge complication, with hospital-acquired infections and complications from surgical procedures also causing a significant number of deaths.
Post-operative malpractice can occur due to a number of factors, but chief among them is a lack of communication between medical staff. When doctors and nurses don’t effectively communicate information regarding the patient’s condition, key warning signs of potential complications may be missed and the patient’s health can deteriorate quickly.
Some of the more common forms of post-operative malpractice include:
- Failure to adequately observe and listen to patient complaints;
- Failure to monitor the patient’s vital signs;
- Failure to review lab results; and
- Failure to provide adequate instructions to the patient upon release.
The consequences of poor post-operative care can be dire, including:
- Internal bleeding;
- Organ damage;
- Heart failure;
- Respiratory distress;
- Blood clots; and
- Infection.
One of the most common, serious and potentially life-threatening forms of the post-operative medical occurs when a foreign object has been left inside the patient’s body, such as a surgical sponge or surgical tool. It is estimated that this occurs in one out of every 8,000 surgeries. As a result of the foreign object being left inside, a patient may suffer infection, sharp pain, internal bleeding, nerve damage or organ damage that worsens until discovery.
Scarring that is not properly treated during the post-operative phase can also lead to serious consequences, such as infections. If an infection following surgery is not immediately addressed, it can lead to sepsis, which is the development of a bacterial infection in the bloodstream. Sepsis must be quickly identified and treated with antibiotics to avoid septic shock, a condition marked by low blood pressure as well as kidney and other organ failure. According to a recent study, one out of every 20 hospital patients in the U.S. gets an infection, totaling two million people per year.
Untreated blood clots, which commonly form in the legs following surgery, can move throughout the circulatory system and block blood flow to organs, causing heart attack, stroke or other injury.
A medical malpractice lawsuit can compensate a victim for not only pain and suffering but also for future medical costs that arise as a result of treating conditions caused, for instance, by an anesthesia error or scarring that initially goes untreated.
If you have concerns about your medical care, please contact Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. for a free, no-obligation consultation at 877.420.1269. A medical malpractice attorney with experience in post-operative malpractice claims can help evaluate the circumstances of your injury or illness. Please keep in mind that there are strict deadlines for filing medical malpractice actions. The statute of limitations may be running on your claim, so time is of the essence.
For more than two decades, the attorneys at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. have represented medical malpractice victims in legal claims across Illinois, including but not limited to Chicago, Lake County, Cook County, Aurora, Rockford, Naperville, Joliet, Springfield, North Peoria, Peoria, Elgin, Waukegan, DuPage County, Will County, Kane County, Winnebago County, McHenry County, Madison County, and St. Clair County.
