Lacerations during surgery can cause serious harm, even death, if they are not timely diagnosed and treated. Therefore, it is important for your surgeon to either detect the fact they caused a laceration injury during your surgery, or in the alternative to timely follow up on symptoms and complaints that indicate your loved one is suffering from post-operative bleeding.
Surgeries can be performed as an open procedure involving a larger incision and direct vision of the surgical field by your doctor. Or they can be performed laparoscopically, which involves a smaller incision and the use of robotic devices and cameras to perform a less invasive surgery. If a surgeon mistakenly causes a laceration injury (cut) that results in bleeding, sometimes the negligence (or breach in the standard of care) by your surgeon is not causing the initial injury, but missing the fact he or she caused the laceration injury and not treating it before it becomes a critical condition.
Before finishing any surgery, it is important for your surgeon to examine the surgical field to ensure there were no laceration injuries caused – whether the surgery was an open one or laparoscopic one. This is especially so if your surgeon had difficulty visualizing your anatomy due to adhesions, scar tissue, or other obstructions. Discovering a laceration injury before finishing the procedure is critical because it can allow your surgeon to treat the injury before any major harm is caused. Whether your surgeon should have realized you had a laceration injury will depend on factors such as the location of the injury, significance of the injury, and any other internal signs that should have indicated to the surgeon you had a laceration injury and were suffering from internal or post-operative bleeding.
Even if a surgeon missed the laceration injury he or she caused before finishing surgery, a patient could have signs and symptoms of internal bleeding that a reasonably prudent surgeon should recognize and treat. And if treated timely the laceration injury and internal bleeding could be treated before it becomes critical for the patient. Signs of post-operative bleeding can be an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, a drop in blood pressure, and the patient’s skin feeling cold to touch. If a patient has symptoms or complaints that should indicate to a surgeon that the patient has internal bleeding, and the surgeon does not act on them, the surgeon could be liable for any harm that occurs to the patient as a result.
A patient’s internal/post-operative bleeding can be discovered via tests to determine how well your blood is clotting, an endoscopy where a long flexible tube and camera are used to examine your internal structures and organs for injuries, or additional surgery.
In determining whether a surgeon breached the standard of care by missing the fact that your loved on was suffering from post-operative bleeding due to a laceration from their surgery, your attorney will review your loved one’s records and consult with experts who practice in the same field of medicine as the surgeon.
If your loved one died due to their late diagnosed post-operative bleeding, a wrongful death and survival action would be brought on their behalf. Here the loved one’s parents, spouse, and children can recover for the loss of care and support the loved one gave them. The loved one’s estate can also recover the pain and suffering they went through before passing, as well as the wages the loved one would have earned if they had not passed away from the post-operative bleeding.
The Thistle Law Firm is experienced at handling cases involving a delay in diagnosis of post-operative bleeding from a surgical laceration. If you or a loved one suffered harm from a delay in diagnosis of post-operative bleeding, the attorneys at The Thistle Law Firm are here to take your call and answer your questions at 215-568-6800.