Anesthesia is a great tool medical professionals can use to limit the pain patients experience during an operation. Depending on the type of anesthesia administered, a patient can have a nerve or bundle of nerves numbed, or their entire body can be rendered unconscious.
With the use of general anesthesia, which causes a patient to become unconscious, patients experience slowed breathing and heart rates, which often require additional medical assistance to ensure that the patient receives proper oxygen.
Given a patient’s state during the use of general anesthesia, there are considerable risks if mistakes are made. Let’s look at some of the most common anesthesia errors.
Common anesthesia errors that can cause catastrophic harm to patients
Although doctors receive years of training and education to prepare them for their jobs, they can still make costly mistakes related to the administration of anesthesia. This includes:
- Administering the wrong dosage of anesthesia.
- Improperly monitoring the patient.
- Keeping the patient under sedation for too long.
- Failing to properly respond to complications the patient experiences in response to the anesthesia.
- Using equipment that is defective or has become inoperable.
- Improperly or completely neglecting to intubate a patient when needed.
- Turning off alarms that warn doctors if the patient’s heart rate or oxygen levels drop.
There may be other mistakes that can occur when anesthesia is administered, so be aware of what could’ve gone wrong in your case if you come away from your operation with unexpected harm.
Have you been injured by an anesthesia error?
If you’ve been hurt by one of the mistakes mentioned above, or some other type of medical malpractice, then now is the time to consider legal action.
A medical malpractice lawsuit may be the only way for you to find accountability and recover the compensation that you’re owed.
But persuasive evidence is key to a successful medical malpractice claim, which is why you can’t hesitate to start gathering documents and witness accounts that may be beneficial to your claim.