The idea of going under the knife for a surgery can make most people relatively nervous. However, the part of the surgery that people fixate on is rarely the most dangerous component. People worry about getting cut open, when there is very little risk to that process in a controlled setting.
The doctor in charge of your surgery will have plenty of experience with carefully performing the operation and minimizing the damage to your tissues. There are also many safeguards in place, from monitoring by nurses to safety checklists that further reduce the risk of a serious mistake in a surgery.
Going under is often the biggest risk
The greater risk actually comes from the process of going under anesthesia, which few people worry about prior to a surgery. Anesthesia can have unintended consequences on patients. Sometimes, a patient has a severe allergy that they did not know about.
Other times, there has been a family history of poor reactions to anesthesia. When an anesthesiologist makes a mistake prior to a surgery, it can cause severe side effects, including nausea before loss of consciousness and even death.
Proper monitoring is critical to success
Like most areas of medical practice, anesthesia does not work well with a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, the doctor in charge of sedating you should be taking great cares to make sure that they are using the safest option for you, givev your medical history. Everything from your age to your weight can factor into the right kind of anesthesia and the right dose.
Once it has been administered, the anesthesiologist should watch your vital signs very closely to protect against the potential of catastrophic consequences. Failing to monitor your respiration rate and your heart rate could mean a medical failure that could have been prevented.
Patients deserve compensation after an anesthesiology mistake
What goes wrong in the anesthesiology process can be heartbreaking for those left behind. Many times, the patient may be severely injured. Mistakes with sedation can lead to serious medical reactions, allergic responses, heart attacks and even strokes. Life afterward may become much more painful and complicated than it was prior to the surgery.
Other times, it is possible that someone simply dies in a routine procedure. When that happens, the victim or the family members of the victim should make sure they look into their rights to seek compensation. Texas medical malpractice laws cover all forms of medicine, including poorly administered anesthesia.
While you may not believe that litigation will fix anything, it can at least offset some of the financial damages that a serious mistake by a doctor can inflict upon your family. It can also hold that doctor accountable and reduce the risk of the same thing happening to someone else.
