Surgical Sponges and Foreign Objects Left In Patient Injuries

It has been reported that surgical sponges and other foreign objects are left in a patient after a surgery as often as 1 out of 100 cases - which may result in serious injuries where the body attempts to heal around these foreign objects.  In an attempt to combat leaving foreign objects inside a person, both surgeons and nurses count the number of surgical sponges that are put in and taken out during the Los Angeles medical procedure before closing up the patient so all items are hopefully removed and accounted for.  Unfortunately, some foreign objects are left inside patients because of the medical malpractice of doctors, surgeons, and nurses for which someone may recover compensation.

While some doctors tend to argue that some surgeries require the use of over 500 sponges, it is nearly impossible to account for all of them.  Generally during a surgery, the doctor uses sponges and other medical instruments as the operation requires, and it is the responsibility of the nurses to keep an accurate count of the addition and removal of these foreign objects.

There is no standardized method of counting the number of foreign instruments used, and it is generally left up the various hospitals, and the respective doctors to make their own policy.  Additionally, when there are policies and procedures in place, they are not always followed when there are emergency procedures or surgeries which are fast-paced in an attempt to save the life of the medical patient.

Surgical sponge manufacturers and the manufacturers of other medical instruments have attempted to combat these Los Angeles foreign object injury accidents by embedding each of these foreign objects with a piece of material which may be easily seen in an x-ray.  This permits doctors and other medical personnel to use a portable x-ray machine on the patient before sutures are applied and they are stitched up.  Further advances have included radio transmitters in the medical equipment which can be picked up by a receiver, as an x-ray may not always be used depending upon the type of surgery.  However, with this increased safety and protection, these pieces of medical equipment are more expensive than their generic counter-parts, and there is no guarantee that they will work as stated which may ultimately result in the reduced outcome of foreign object injuries resulting from medical malpractice.

Further, if several months pass in which a patient has a foreign object inside, that object will have to be removed.  Therefore, that patient must once again undergo another surgery may puts the patient at further risk of infection or even wrongful death.  The general types of foreign objects which have had to later be removed included:

• clips;
• cotton;
• electrosurgical adapters;
• gauze;
• knife blades;
• needles; and
• safety pins.

Contact our Los Angeles medical malpractice attorneys today to discuss your injuries resulting from foreign objects.  Call us immediately at 800-715-4489 - as the longer you delay may prevent you from recovering.