The Increasing Risk of Unnecessary Surgery

Every year there are stunning developments in medical science which will likely save the lives of many, many people. New developments also make common procedures easier to perform for doctors and surgeons. It is now fairly easy for doctors to perform many routine surgeries. A sad result of this fact, however, is a dramatic increase in the number of unnecessary surgeries performed every year.

The Risks of Unnecessary Surgery

Any surgery involves a great deal of risk. But current culture has largely moved away from deeply weighing these very serious risks, and "elective procedures" such as cosmetic surgery have grown exponentially in popularity. While there are many instances in which the patient elects to go through with a surgery despite the risks, there are many in which the doctor performs a procedure without properly weighing the risks and explaining them to the patient.

Some possible negative outcomes of surgery include:

• Severe infection at the site of the surgery-these infections often spread to other parts of the body or into the bloodstream, at which point they can be very deadly.

• Anesthesia complications-there is always a potential risk that a patient will not wake up after anesthesia. Small mistakes on the part of the anesthesiologist can cause serious injury or death.

• Hemorrhaging-uncontrollable bleeding in which the patient may die despite blood transfusions.

• Surgical mistakes made by the doctor-surgery requires an incredibly steady hand, and even small mistakes can be devastating.

• Internal bleeding caused by the surgery-internal bleeding is often difficult to detect, and both the doctor and the patient may be completely unaware of it until it is too late.

Doctors should always carefully weigh the risks of surgery against the benefits and fully explain each to the patient.

To find out more about the risks of unnecessary surgery, visit the website of the Washington medical malpractice lawyers at Fuller & Fuller today.