Foreign Object Inside The Body: Negligently Leaving Foreign Objects After Surgery

One of the most disturbing, but not altogether uncommon, surgical errors that occur is when a surgeon leaves a foreign object inside the body after performing an operation.  

This negligence, in some instances, can lead to dangerous health complications including life-threatening infections, internal bleeding, nerve injury, and extreme pain or discomfort.  

In our experience, the most common foreign bodies that are left inside bodies are sponges, needles, gauze, metal clamps, and sometimes, surgical instruments. Typically, the retention of surgical sponges probably occurs the most frequently of all foreign bodies that are left inside patients following a surgical procedure.   

In every surgical procedure, the health care providers are responsible for ensuring that there is an initial count of all the surgical instruments, sponges, clamps, towels, etc. that will be used during the surgery. At the surgery’s completion, at least one health care provider is charged with ensuring that the same number of instruments or surgical devices have been removed from the surgical field. Failure to accurately document this count can lead to a foreign object being retained inside the body. 

Naturally, when these objects are left inside a person’s body, a second invasive procedure is usually necessary to remove them, thereby resulting in additional hospitalization, prolonged wound healing and recovery time, missed work, increased medical expenses, and physical/emotional pain and suffering. In addition, some patients become extremely ill and develop complications resulting from the foreign object being left inside their body. These illnesses can progress to extremely debilitating conditions that end up costing a patient dearly. 

It has been suggested that issues of communication in the operating room are at the heart of the problem of retained foreign bodies because of misunderstandings; i.e., cross-cultural (nurse to a surgeon), hierarchical (captain and crew) or structural (medical staff vs. hospital staff).  There also can be a wide divide between the levels of training, communication styles, and experience among different people working together as an OR staff.  These differences should be manageable, however, as retained foreign bodies are generally regarded as “never events,” meaning that they should never happen absent negligence on the part of someone.  

As experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice attorneys, we have successfully made claims arising out of a healthcare provider’s negligence in leaving a foreign object inside the body following surgery.  These cases, however, require a complete and detailed understanding of the appropriate pre-operative and operative procedures of each of the various healthcare providers who are involved in the particular surgery. 

If you or a loved one has been affected by a surgical error such as a retained foreign object inside the body after surgery, it is critical to have an informed, detail-oriented, and dedicated medical malpractice attorney who will tirelessly advocate for you and your case. Please contact Andrew G. Slutkin and Ethan S. Nochumowitz for a free consultation at 800-385-2243

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