What Are Surgical Infections?
Surgeries are meant to treat patients and improve their health conditions. However, if a patient contracts a surgical infection, it can cause significant complications.
Surgeries are meant to treat patients and improve their health conditions. However, if a patient contracts a surgical infection, it can cause significant complications. For some patients, their body’s immune system responded poorly to the procedure and became susceptible to infection. However, some surgical infections are avoidable, and may have been caused by a surgical team’s negligence during or after the procedure. Read on to learn more about surgical infections, and call The Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek to find out what legal options you can pursue.
Causes and Risk Factors for Surgical Infection
Overall, the avoidable causes of surgical infections involve either mistakes made by the surgical team or unsafe/unsanitary conditions. Inadequate post-surgery care, such as not monitoring the healing process or discharging the patient too early, can be considered negligent care. Reviewing the hospital’s standards for sterilizing tools, the operating room, and the surgical site can reveal why the patient contracted an infection.
Surgical team members and those giving postoperative care should be aware of any conditions that may make a certain patient more susceptible to infections. Common risk factors include age (very young or very old), compromised immune system, diabetes, obesity, and poor circulation.
Common Types of Infections
The types of surgical infection a patient can contract may vary depending on the procedure they underwent, and various causes mentioned previously. Commonly, patients can contract bloodstream infections, respiratory infections, MRSA , urinary tract infections, postoperative bleeding, and necrotizing fasciitis (when soft tissue cells die, often rapidly).
Patients show signs they may have contracted a surgical infection if they demonstrate some of the following symptoms:
- Fever or chills
- Redness, warmth, swelling, or pain around the surgical site
- Increased heart rate
- Abnormal white blood cell count
- Wound drainages, such as blood or pus
- Fatigue
Recovering Damages
Surgical infections cause physical, emotional, and financial strain to the patient. The patient can find themselves in a worse condition than before the surgery and may need to stay longer for additional treatment. If you or a loved one contracted a surgical infection as a result of medical negligence, you need the help of an experienced medical malpractice attorney to recover damages such as infection treatment bills, lost wages, emotional distress, and more. In cases where the surgical infection leads to a patient’s death, the patient’s spouse, parent, or child may bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital.
Contact The Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, LLC Today
Do you believe that you or your loved one has suffered as a result of medical malpractice or medical neglect? You need to talk to an experienced team of local lawyers today.
The lawyers at Cardaro & Peek, LLC have the experience and resources necessary to investigate and litigate all types of medical claims throughout Maryland and Washington D.C. Cardaro & Peek, LLC has medical personnel on staff and has access to nationally recognized, board-certified physicians and other experts, to assist in the investigation, analysis, and prosecution of all types of medical malpractice claims. If you or a loved one have experienced malpractice, give us a call at 410-752-6166. Please visit our website www.cardarolaw.com and follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and LinkedIn for more information.
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