Anesthesia is what makes surgery possible for patients. Without the ability to render a person unconscious or unable to feel pain in a particular area, physicians likely could not perform the complex procedures necessary for optimal recovery.
Anesthesia prevents shock and patient reactions that could lead to serious injuries or worse. Unfortunately, anesthesia is consistently one of the most dangerous elements of a surgical procedure. Mistakes when administering anesthesia can result in devastating consequences for patients. The three errors below are among the most common and are also all typically preventable if anesthesiologists adhere to best practices.
1. Drug mix-ups
Anesthesiologists often use a cocktail of different drugs to render people safely unconscious or at least insensible to render people safely unconscious or at least unable to feel pain from the procedure. Even experienced anesthesiologists could mix up two different vials of medications. Errors that involve administering the wrong drug can lead to drug interactions and allergic reactions that have devastating consequences for patients.
2. Dosage errors
The right dose for one patient could be deadly for another. Factors including underlying physical conditions, weight, sex and even genetic recessive traits, such as red hair, can influence how patients respond to anesthesia. Anesthesiologists may calculate the wrong dosage in some cases. Other times, they may have the right dosage listed on all paperwork but may administer a different dose during the surgery. High or low doses of drugs can lead to a variety of complications, from overdoses to surgical wakefulness.
3. Preventable adverse reactions
Perhaps the patient has long taken a specific drug that could interact with one specific anesthetic drug. Maybe reactions to specific medications run in their family. Anesthesiologist can review the personal history of a patient, as well as their family history, when deciding what medications to administer. In cases where there could be reason for concern about safety, they can also perform tests in advance to ensure that the choices they make are appropriate. If anesthesiologists don’t follow best practices and ensure the safety of the medications they select for a patient, the consequences can be downright tragic.
Showing that another anesthesiologist could have avoided a mistake or a poor outcome could provide the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Patients harmed by anesthesia errors can request compensation for lost wages, increased medical expenses and other economic consequences of the malpractice they’ve experienced.