Anesthesia is integral to surgical procedures, but it comes with certain risks. Many anesthesia errors are preventable and arise from a medical professional’s mistake or negligence.
Given the nature of most anesthesia-involved procedures and the fact that the patient is almost always unconscious or semi-coherent, it can be challenging to identify that something went wrong immediately.
However, if you suspect something went awry with the anesthesia during your operation, you may have a claim for malpractice. Here’s a brief overview of common types of anesthesia mistakes, a list of complications and injuries, and your legal options.
What Is Anesthesia?
There are three main types of anesthesia, all used to prevent pain during surgery or invasive procedures.
- General anesthesia—puts the patient into a state of controlled unconsciousness and is usually the most restrictive and risky;
- Regional anesthesia—puts only the region of the body being operated on into an anesthetized state (e.g., spinal block); and
- Local anesthesia—medicine is administered only into the local part of the body being worked on. (e.g., dental procedures).
Anesthesia errors can happen with any type and dosage of anesthesia. Some mistakes can be more severe than others. No matter the source of your error, you have rights.
Possible Anesthesia Complications and Injuries
The list of possible complications or injuries from anesthesia negligence is abundant, but there are several we see more commonly.
The most common complications from anesthesia are:
- Nausea and vomiting,
- Delirium,
- Sore throat,
- Damaged trachea or larynx,
- Respiratory issues,
- Brain damage or stroke,
- Heart attack,
- Pneumonia,
- Anesthesia awareness (i.e., the person regains consciousness during the procedure),
- Allergic reaction,
- Damaged tooth,
- Blood clots,
- Nerve injury,
- Post-surgical pain, and
- Death.
Remember, though, this list is not exhaustive, and it is possible to experience other injuries or complications from anesthesia malpractice. Minor complications typically resolve quickly with little medical intervention.
However, severe complications can cause permanent injuries. No matter the severity of your injuries, speaking with a medical malpractice lawyer to discuss your legal rights is essential.
Common Types of Anesthesia Mistakes and Errors
Certain types of anesthesia mistakes are more common than others.
Administering the Improper Dose
Giving the patient an improper dose of anesthesia is one of the most common mistakes, and it can occur if the anesthesia provider gives too much or not enough medication. Anesthesia error statistics suggest medication errors, specifically substitution and incorrect dosing errors, were among the most common mistakes during general anesthesia.
Failure to Adequately Monitor
Anesthesia administration is risky and highly specific to the patient. The patient’s vitals must be adequately monitored throughout the anesthetization to avoid reactions and complications.
Failure to Communicate
Many anesthesia errors occur because of a lack of communication between the doctor and patient or the doctor and other medical staff. It is essential to discuss risks and establish safety protocols.
Failure to Properly Intubate or Extubate
With general anesthesia, the patient often requires a breathing tube. The improper or careless insertion or removal of the tube can cause significant injury to the patient’s airway, mouth and teeth, throat, lungs, trachea, and larynx.
Severe intubation or extubation errors can result in swelling of the patient’s airway, cutting off oxygen to their body, resulting in brain damage and other permanent injury.
Post-Surgical Care Errors
The risk of anesthesia complications does not disappear once the surgery is over. Certain complications can still arise even in recovery. While not as common, post-anesthesia complications happen and can often be severe.
For instance, a hypoxic or anoxic brain injury results in a blocked oxygen supply, which can lead to permanent brain damage.
Documentation and Charting Errors
Although slightly different because it does not typically involve physical interaction with the patient, charting or documentation errors can be just as dangerous.
Failing to properly document current medical conditions, medications, history, patient weight, known allergies, and more can lead to devastating errors.
An anesthesiologist needs to be informed about patient allergies to medications to avoid administering that medication or one with a known adverse interaction. Charting and documentation mistakes are serious malpractice.
Other types of anesthesia errors include:
- Administering the wrong type of anesthesia,
- Accidental flushing of drugs through the IV,
- Administering anesthesia despite a known patient allergy,
- Using unsanitary or defective equipment,
- Delay in administering anesthesia,
- Improper placement of the IV,
- Failure to take a thorough patient history,
- Failure to properly inform the patient about surgery preparation (e.g., no eating or drinking before beforehand),
- Being unprepared for a medical emergency,
- Failing to confirm the position of the tube in the trachea,
- Failure to respond to anaphylactic shock, and
- Failure to properly resuscitate a patient.
If you were harmed by anesthesia malpracticer during the anesthetization process, you have options.
Proving Your Anesthesia Malpractice Case
Medical malpractice cases, in general, are challenging and complicated. Anesthesia negligence can be even more difficult to prove because the patient is often unconscious and does not know what occurred until much later.
Anesthesia malpractice cases are usually brought against the anesthesiologist but can also include other physicians, nurses, hospitals, technicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals.
Generally, a healthcare provider must exercise the degree of care and skill of the average provider within the same specialty. Failure to do so can constitute medical malpractice.
To prove an anesthesia malpractice claim, you must establish the following:
- The applicable standard of medical care – what should or should not have been done,
- The anesthesiologist or other medical professional breached that standard of care, and
- That you suffered harm as a result of that breach.
Your attorney will build your case using their knowledge, experience, and resources. Some of the tools at their disposal include discovery, depositions, medical experts, and more.
Anesthesia Malpractice Attorneys, Honolulu, HI
At Cronin, Fried, Sekiya, Kekina & Fairbanks & Fairbanks, we are dedicated personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys ready to get you the justice and compensation you deserve.
Several of our distinguished attorneys have received multiple Lawyer of the Year awards by Best Lawyers in America, recognition in Super Lawyers, and the highest peer review ratings for attorneys based on their records of success. Call us for a free initial consultation today and learn what our team can do for you.
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