What are the most common surgical errors made?

The common forms of surgical negligence include:

Search
Types of Surgical Negligence	Examples of Situations
Anaesthetic awareness	Administration of too little anesthetic which resulted in a patient being aware or waking up during surgery. The experience of significant pain and the inability to express this, could leave a patient with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Eye surgery	Negligence during laser or lens replacement surgery including negligent cataract surgery to include damage to the nerves, cornea or retina.
Digestive organs	Perforated bowel or colon – especially during a colonoscopy or other procedure Damaging the bile duct during gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy) Damage to the ureter during surgery e.g. salpingo-oophrectomy
Hernia surgery	Damage to an artery/vein during the negligent repair of a hernia including failure to consent to the use of certain mesh.
Heart surgery	Failure to monitor consequences of bypass surgery Vas Cath inserted into vertebral artery instead of a vein
Gynaecological	Ovary removed without a patient’s consent Negligence when removing an ovarian cyst including perforated bowel and other organs Bladder, bowel or ureter injury during a gynecological procedure Negligently recommended a hysterectomy operation to treat urinary symptoms
Obstetric	Errors made when performing a C-section including lacerating internal organs or closing wounds improperly Mistakes in suturing perineal tears or episiotomies Cesarean section wound negligently closed
Renal and urological	Damage to the kidney, bladder or ureters cut or lacerated during surgery Injury during procedure to insert a tension free vaginal tape to support bladder
Orthopaedic	Nerve, muscle or tissue damage following orthopedic surgery Errors in carrying out keyhole (laparoscopy) surgery Knee or hip implants not fitted correctly Wrong fracture insertion plate used
Spine / back	Nerve damage caused by negligent surgery Failure to obtain consent or adequately explain the potential consequences of spinal surgery Mistakes made during spinal surgery Failure to carry out a lumbar laminectomy at the correct level Damage to spinal nerves, incontinence and paralysis of legs following negligent management of spinal surgery Damage to the bowel during discectomy surgery
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Cut or Damaged	Mistakes made in surgery could result in a cut or damaged gallbladder, liver or damage i.e. cut or burn to the main bile duct. Mistakes could also be made during surgery or keyhole treatment to remove gallstones.
Gastroenterology	perforations / tears to organs such as the stomach, oesophagus, gall bladder, duodenum and bladder mistakes were made before, during or after surgery for a gastroenterology related condition e.g. gastric bypass surgery (bariatric surgery) Unnecessary gastroenterology surgery or treatment Failure to obtain adequate patient consent to surgery, endoscopy or treatment Negligent care after gastroenterology surgery eg. failing to identify and / or treat an infection e.g. sepsis Injury, cuts or burns to the bile duct during surgery

Many of these errors are referred to as ‘Never Events’ i.e. an umbrella term for a series of avoidable mistakes and errors made by NHS employees. Here is the list of the Never Events which occurred between April 2019 – February 2020.

Get in touch

Devonshires Claims
Ground Floor
30 Finsbury Circus
Finsbury, London
EC2M 7DT

[email protected]

#

#

#