Surgeons and the professionals assisting them typically do everything in their power to ensure that procedures are successful. Unfortunately, accidents and mistakes do occur during surgical procedures.
In some cases, those mistakes are serious enough to have a profound impact on the patient’s recovery. They may also constitute preventable medical errors that are sometimes referred to as “never events” because they should never happen when there is proper adherence to best surgical practices. Retained foreign bodies are a common type of never event that occurs dozens of times per week across the United States.
In cases where surgeons leave items inside a patient after an operation, the patient may need to undergo a second procedure. Their recovery may take longer. According to research into retained foreign bodies after surgery, one specific situation puts people at the highest degree of risk.
Abdominal surgery is the top risk factor
Surgeons and the people assisting them can leave clamps, gauze and other surgical implements behind inside the incision after any type of procedure. In many cases, they don’t realize until hours later that a tool or part of a medical implement is not accounted for after the surgery.
Surgeries of the abdominal cavity involve a much bigger internal space, making it easier for medical professionals to overlook small items at the end of a long procedure. Abdominal surgeries account for a substantial majority of all reported retained foreign bodies in the United States. Even soft, previously sterile items, such as surgical gauze, can pose medical risk if left behind after a procedure.
Medical errors that others could have avoided can constitute medical malpractice. Retained foreign bodies left behind after an operation that have caused harm can be a valid reason to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit.