While safe for most medical procedures, anesthesia can lead to serious health complications when mistakes are made while it’s being used. There are several types of serious injuries that can result from errors made when using anesthesia.
Click on the errors below to find more information on the several types of anesthesia-related injuries, their symptoms, what kinds of errors typically cause injury, and more.
Airway Problems – There are multiple ways anesthesia can cause a patient to have difficulty breathing. From how the tube is placed to how the patient is monitored, if warning signs of an issue aren’t caught right away, the results can be disastrous.
Allergic Reaction – Also known as anaphylaxis, a patient may have an allergic reaction to anesthesia or the materials used during surgery. Symptoms can come on suddenly and if not treated quickly, can cause cardiac arrest, organ failure, or permanent brain damage.
Anesthesia Awareness– Although rare, patients may occasionally wake up during surgery. While they may not feel pain when awake—but that too is possible—the psychological harm can be severe, leading to PTSD, panic disorders, and long-term trauma.
Aspiration – When the stomach releases its contents into the lungs during anesthesia, it’s known as aspiration. Symptoms may include coughing, choking, breathing problems, or low oxygen levels. Serious or fatal injuries may result from aspiration, including sepsis and chemical lung burns.
Blood Transfusion Reaction – If a patient receives the wrong blood type during a transfusion, it can trigger a massive immune response that can be life-threatening. Cardiac arrest, clotting, and kidney failure can be caused by the mistake.
Brain Damage – Throughout surgery, oxygen saturation must be monitored; otherwise, it can drop quickly. Oxygen deprivation can cause anoxic brain injury, hypoxic brain injury, or other serious complications. A lack of oxygen can also lead to coma, memory loss, or disability.
Heart Problems – Anesthesia mistakes can trigger issues in the heart, such as abnormal rhythms, severe blood pressure swings, or cardiac arrest. If the symptoms aren’t noticed or corrected immediately, it can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, or fatal cardiac events.
Hyperthermia – Although it is very rare, hyperthermia or malignant hyperthermia is extremely dangerous and can cause a patient to die in a matter of minutes. Hyperthermia may cause a sudden spike in body temperature, an increase in heart rate to unsafe levels, and more with little warning and even less time to treat.
Nerve Damage – Ensuring a patient is properly positioned helps prevent painful and potentially permanent injuries. It’s also critical that no needles or devices press on a nerve during surgery. Failure to do so can cause a long-term injury like paralysis or chronic pain.
Overdose or Wrong Anesthesia – If a patient receives the wrong or incorrect dose of medication while undergoing anesthesia, injuries can happen quickly. Depending on the error, it may even cause death.
Paralysis – Anesthesia often requires patients to receive drugs that temporarily paralyze the patient. However, if the drugs aren’t reversed properly, it can cause the patient to be unable to move or breathe on their own after surgery. When that happens, it can trigger several different issues or injuries for the patient.
Stroke – Strokes can occur during anesthesia if blood flow to the brain is disrupted by low oxygen, low blood pressure, clotting issues, or other errors. Following surgery, a patient may experience slurred speech, weakness on one side, vision problems, or confusion, indicating a possible stroke.
Don’t Face an Anesthesia Injury Alone
Regardless of how minor the mistake, any error made while a patient is under anesthesia deserves to be explored and investigated for potential long-term health effects. Undergoing anesthesia can be traumatic enough when everything goes as planned. If something goes wrong, you don’t have to navigate the process alone.
The team at Weisser Law is here to help you fight the hospital and the insurance companies that are only worried about protecting themselves. Our team knows how to uncover what went wrong and relies on expert opinions to prove you’re owed the compensation you deserve, not what the insurance company wants to pay.
Contact Weisser Law today and let us protect your health, your future, and your peace of mind.