4 Shocking Examples of Surgical Mistakes

When you go into the hospital for surgical treatment, you expect to be in safe hands. In this article, we’ll talk about four shocking examples of surgical mistakes…

When you have a condition which requires you to undergo surgery, you put a large amount of trust into your surgeon and team to do a proper, efficient job. Most people assume that because medical surgeons are trained and experienced, they shouldn’t make any damaging mistakes. While this doesn’t usually happen, in unfortunate circumstances, it can.

There is no denying that Surgical negligence can be extremely serious. It has the potential to worsen an existing problem or create new injuries, which could potentially have a long-lasting impact, but what are surgical mistakes and examples of them?

To find out what surgical mistakes are and to learn from four examples, keep reading…

What is a Surgical Mistake?

Photo by Artur Tumasjan from Unsplash

To put it simply, a surgical mistake is where an error happens during surgery which results in the patient’s pre-existing condition worsening or causing a new condition to develop.

4 Examples of Surgical Mistakes

1. Wrong Limbs Being Amputated

This might seem crazy (because it is), but yes, people around the world suffer from the wrong limbs being amputated in surgical errors.

An incident of surgical mistake occurred when a limb amputation took place in the United States back in 1995 on a diabetic patient who was supposed to have his right leg removed. The surgeon Dr Rolando Sanchez realised his mistakes but unfortunately, due to having already cut through muscles, tendons and ligaments, he had no other choice than to continue with the amputation of the incorrect left leg.

2. Surgical Instruments Left in the Body

While the thought of surgical instruments being left inside a patient’s body seems highly unlikely, it is more common than people think.

A report that was done in 2015 on how many surgical instruments are left in bodies in the UK suggests that 5.5 in 100,000 patients experience this type of surgical negligence. This figure makes the UK 6th among the worst in western nations.

During surgeries, there are tons of equipment which is used, any of which could and have in the past been accidentally left behind. Common examples of surgical instruments left inside the human body following procedures include:

• Sponges
• Scalpels
• Scissors
• Drain tips
• Needles
• Clamps
• Forceps
• Scopes
• Surgical masks and gloves
• Tubes
• Measuring devices

3. Incorrect Dosage of Anaesthetic

Receiving the incorrect dosage of anaesthetic can be dangerous for many reasons, from patients waking up during surgical procedures when receiving too little anaesthetic to complications from receiving too much anaesthetic. With anaesthetic, there are two types, one to paralyse the body and another, which is a general anaesthetic that prevents pain and allows the patient to fall asleep.

An example of an anaesthetic surgical mistake occurred to 73-year-old Sherman Sizemore in 2006, where only one of the doses was properly administrated by the surgeons. This meant that Sizemore was left paralysed but wide awake and feeling everything during the procedure. This is known as anaesthetic awareness.

While the medical team realised their mistakes and administrated the correct dose, once Sizemore woke up, he was never told about the surgical error and spent the next two weeks suffering, not being able to sleep, having nightmares and being convinced people were trying to bury him alive. This, unfortunately, led to Sizemore taking his life.

4. Wrong Sperm Used at Fertility Clinic

The wrong sperm being used is the type of scary thing you hear about in the movies, but unfortunately, some real-life individuals have been affected by this.

There have been many cases of the wrong sperm being used, one case, in particular, was done at least 94 times by fertility doctor Dr Donald Cline. Instead of using the correct sperm as expected, he inseminated his own sperm into his clients. You can find out more about these shocking incidents by watching ‘Our Father’ on Netflix. 

Another example of the wrong sperm used at a fertility clinic happened in New York to Thomas and Nancy Andrews when the clinic accidentally inseminated Nancy with the sperm of another man. This mistake only came to light when baby Jessica was born of another race, and a DNA test showed Thomas was not the biological father.

Surgical Mistakes Are More Common Than We Think 

 

Photo by Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz from Unsplash

What is easy to take away from this article is that surgical mistakes are more common than we presume, as scary as it sounds, with many different types. Along with the four we have spoken about above, there are other examples, including surgery on the wrong side of the head, incorrect blood type used, the wrong organ removed, etc.

If you have suffered from a surgical mistake, it’s important that you immediately seek the assistance of medical and legal professionals. 

Please be advised that this article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for advice from a trained medical or legal professional. Be sure to consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you’re seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. And, be sure to consult a lawyer/solicitor if you’re seeking advice on the law. We are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.