What You need to Know about Gall Bladder Surgery Errors in Medical Malpractice

Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery is performed on around 750,000 patients every year. This surgery is slowly gaining some substantial precedence over other traditional, open procedures mainly because the recovery time is much less. Patients are usually discharged either on the same day or within a day or two.

First introduced in 1989, this surgery is a very common method of removing a gallbladder that is diseased. But if the surgery is not successful or not performed by a skilled surgeon, and it leads to gall bladder surgery errors, a patient might sustain many serious and life-threatening injuries. This could also result in a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Gall bladder surgery procedure

Laparoscopic gallbladder surgery involved the removal of the gall bladder by making tiny incisions in the abdomen. The abdomen is inflated by the surgeon with carbon dioxide or air so that they can see clearly. A lighted scope called a laparoscope is attached to a video camera and is inserted into an incision near the nave. A video guide is then used as a guide while the surgical instruments are being inserted. The surgeon then uses a series of tiny instruments to clip or cut the arteries or ducts that are attached the gall bladder and to remove it from the patient's body.

It is important that a surgeon is qualified and experienced enough to successfully identify each duct that he or she is cutting. If the surgeon clips, cuts or nicks the common bile duct mistakenly as opposed to the cystic duct, or cuts any of the organs that are adjacent to the infected area, it can result in many injuries being caused.

Risk involved

Besides the medical malpractice lawsuits that may arise from a gall bladder surgery error, the surgery itself carries several risks, and complications. Some risks are more common and severe that those posed by other traditional open procedures.

A common gall bladder surgery error is the cutting of the bile duct. This happens in at least 1 out of every 200 procedures, resulting in 4,000 patients being injured every year. When the common bile duct is nicked or cut, it may result in the bile getting backed up into the bloodstream. This might cause leakage into the abdominal cavity or also lead to jaundice.

It might take corrective surgery to fix gall bladder errors. But even after corrective surgery, a patient might suffer digestive problems, or permanent pain. This might be a cause for a medical malpractice lawsuit wherein pain and suffering has been caused to a patient as well as lost wages.

Importance of hiring a medical malpractice lawyer

The main cause of gall bladder injuries is inexperienced surgeons. According to a research conducted by the National Institutes of Health, gall bladder surgery errors are more likely to occur when a surgeon has performed less than 25 procedures. A qualified medical malpractice lawyer can help you receive the financial compensation that you deserve.