Patients go into surgery with the intention of having the procedure done on the correct body part. When there are issues with the procedure, there are serious consequences that can occur. Not only will the person need to have another procedure on the correct part, they may also need another procedure to correct the one that was done on the wrong part. In some cases, such as a wrong site amputation, there isn’t anything that the surgeon can do to correct it.
A wrong site surgery is considered a “never event,” which means that it shouldn’t happen. There are too many protocols that can be put in place that should prevent these from occurring. One issue that occurs is that surgical teams become complacent and fail to continue to utilize those protocols.
Before a procedure is done, the surgery information must be verified. This includes confirming the patient’s identity, the location of the procedure and the type of surgery. Taking a surgical timeout before it is started can be beneficial. The team has the opportunity to speak up about anything they aren’t clear about and more than one person can ensure things are being handled appropriately.
Patients who have a wrong site surgery often have a considerable healing period to go through. Not only do they have to try to heal physically, they also have to deal with the emotional turmoil that comes from the situation. These victims might choose to seek compensation through a medical malpractice claim to try to recover the financial damages that they are dealing with because of the negligence of the surgical team.