New York Organ Punction or Performation Malpractice
Causes of organ perforation
When an organ’s wall gets completely penetrated during surgery, it is characterized as an organ perforation. Perforations are commonly the result of medical negligence and surgical errors, and may sometimes involve an equipment malfunction too.
Other complications and pathological conditions in the body, diseases, or accidents leading to blunt trauma can also lead to an organ perforation or puncture. Perforations also occur during the aggravation of ulcerative colitis. When the disease lasts long for years, the intestinal wall is weakened leading to tears. When such mishaps happen, prompt diagnosis and treatment of the perforation is imperative to save the patient’s life.
Other medical conditions or injuries that can cause an organ perforation include:
- Car accidents
- Gun shots or knife wounds
- Colon cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Appendicitis
- Typhoid
- Bowel obstruction
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Gastric ulcers
Organ puncture and medical negligence
Organ perforation is a medical malpractice. While it is a known and understood fact that every surgery comes with a risk due to plausible ad hoc complications that could arise, every medical practitioner is required to take every measure to ensure that such complications do not arise.
Surgeons are trained to leave no room for error during or after a procedure, and continuous & innovative medical practices have enabled surgical teams to extend maximum accuracy and attention to the treatment. In some cases the inexperienced assistants helping the surgeons may not exercise the required caution in handling sutures, post-surgical closures, dressings, and completion of surgery related procedures.
Consequences of organ puncture or perforation
The bowel suffers the most in case of organ perforation. Due to its positioning in the body and its length, a surgical tool may easily puncture the bowel. The stomach, liver, or intestines can also get easily affected. Due to such errors, the immediate impact is that human waste mixes with the blood stream, causing infection, internal bleeding, and other complications such as peritonitis.
Most organ punctures may require corrective surgical procedures to fix the intestinal leak and the perforation. Depending on the severity of internal infection, antibiotics may be prescribed by your physician. A nasogastric tube may be fixed to relax the bowel and help recovery.
Symptoms leading to organ perforations
Advancement in medical technology has enabled practitioners to detect a tear in the abdominal cavity with the help of an x-ray, while a CT scan identifies the hole caused. An organ puncture or perforation may be tested for and diagnosed, based on any of the following symptoms:
- Bowel dysfunction
- Swollen abdomen
- Nausea
- Fever
- Pain in the abdomen
- Racing heartbeat
- Difficulty in breathing
- Hemorrhaging
Medical negligence leading to organ perforation
Surgeons are professionally trained to prevent any damages to internal organs during or after surgery. Surgical experts are expected to check and recheck for any signs of internal damage, and perform immediate damage control to stop further complications. Unfortunately, surgeons often overlook this step during surgery, leading to life threatening situations for the patient. This may lead to infections, internal bleeding, rupture of sutures and more.
Seek legal aid
For legal assistance against medical malpractice, contact our New York City medical malpractice attorneys now. Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff, & Wolff (RMFW) have law offices located in Astoria, Queens, New York City and two locations in Brooklyn. Call 212-344-1000 for a free consultation.
If RMFW accepts your case – you pay nothing up front! You pay them nothing – they just keep a percentage of the final settlement.
