When a patient undergoes surgery, they are typically provided anesthesia to keep them immobile and prevent them from experiencing pain and discomfort during the surgical procedure. Yet in the administration of anesthesia, the patient is exposed to powerful drugs that under the wrong conditions can lead to serious injury.
Of course, with any surgical procedure, and many medical procedures, risks are a part of the picture. And some injuries or outcomes may not be those one can be compensated for under personal injury law because of those risks inherent to the procedure. However, other injuries are the result of mistakes made by the practitioner, and those can often be redressed in a court of law.
(Understanding Medical Malpractice in an Hospital Setting)
What is Anesthesia?
Anesthesia is a medical treatment administered to prevent patients from experiencing pain during medical procedures. Physicians and anesthesiologists employ the use of drugs (through injection, inhalation of gas and even topical application) to provide sedative effects: The following is a list of the kinds of anesthesia one may experience in a medical setting:
Local Anesthesia
Local anesthesia offers numbness and localized pain relief, typically for minor procedures. This type of anesthesia procedure numbs a localized area where the application is made. Localized anesthesia typically don’t cause unconsciousness.
Regional Anesthesia
Regional anesthesia can offer numbness to prevent the feeling of pain in a given area of the body. It generally does not have to include unconsciousness, but provides general relief from sensation during a medical procedure.
IV/Monitored Sedation
This type of anesthesia procedure can provide a mild sedation where the patient is not unconscious. This can be applied during minor surgeries to relieve pain. Colonoscopies, endoscopies and dental surgery may include IV/monitored sedation. These procedures may not require immobilization for an extended period of time, but require the patient to lose sensation in a localized area.
General Anesthesia
General anesthesia is typically applied when the patient is required to lose consciousness altogether, remain immobile and prevents them from feeling the sensation of pain during the procedure. This kind of anesthesia blocks nerve signals to the brain during surgery. Patients that undergo general anesthesia may forget anything that preceded or followed the surgical procedure.
Anesthesia Errors Can Cause Injury or Loss of Life
When anesthesia errors occur, serious injury or death may indeed result. While the administration of local anesthesia can offer fewer risks, general anesthesia incorporates the use of very powerful drugs that can slow down or even stop a patient’s breathing and/or heart rate. Anesthesia must be closely monitored the entire time a patient is under its affects in order to maintain control of the body’s vital signs. Those include breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen and even temperature.
Drugs administered for general anesthesia provide pain relief and paralysis to immobilize the patient and keep them unconscious during the procedure. If enough anesthetics are not administered, the patient may respond to painful procedures or even awaken during the procedure. If, however, the anesthesiologist administers too much anesthesia, the patient could stop breathing or be at risk of cardiac arrest.
If a patient is administered too much anesthesia, they may also: overdose during the procedure; stop breathing; suffer from hypoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain or vital organs and tissues of the body. It only takes minutes without oxygen or blood flow for cells of the body to start to die.
Without appropriate treatment, a patient who has been administered too much anesthesia may suffer permanent injury or death. Patients who recover from too much anesthesia may suffer permanent mental and/or physical disability. If the injury was caused by a negligent or inept anesthesiologist who provided an inappropriate dosage of anesthetic drugs or who failed to monitor the patient adequately, the patient could be eligible to malpractice damages against the doctor and hospital.
Get Help from an Experience Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you have suffered from the affects of anesthesia errors during a medical procedures and have incurred injuries as a result, you should speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney who can advise you of your rights to compensation and file a claim on your behalf.
If you’re looking for an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to help navigate your personal injury claim, we will fight assiduously for your right to the compensation you deserve. Call Bizzieri Law Offices at 773.881.9000. The case evaluation is free, and we never charge a fee unless we recover damages for you..