No one goes into surgery expecting to come out worse than they went in. However, the result can be devastating when a medical team skips a safety step, uses the wrong instrument, or operates on the wrong body part.
At Poulos & Coates, we help patients across New Mexico determine whether their experience qualifies as surgical error malpractice. Many of those conversations start with the same question: Did the surgeon do something wrong, or was this just a known risk of the procedure?
The answer depends on what happened in the operating room.
What Is Considered a Surgery Error? Examples of Malpractice in the Operating Room
These examples of malpractice can happen when proper surgical procedures aren’t followed. Understanding what is considered a surgical error can help you determine whether your experience may qualify as medical malpractice.
Operating on the Wrong Limb, Location, or Person
Hospitals and surgical centers have specific safety checks to prevent wrong-site surgeries. The surgical team must confirm the patient’s identity, review the procedure plan, and mark the correct body part before making an incision. Skipping this verification step can lead to serious injury—a surgeon might operate on the wrong knee, remove a healthy organ, or, in rare cases, perform surgery on the wrong person.
Wrong-site surgery is classified as a never event, meaning it is a serious medical error deemed unacceptable and entirely preventable. However, these events usually occur when communication breaks down, or the surgical staff fails to follow essential safety steps.
Cutting or Injuring a Nerve, Blood Vessel, or Organ
Surgeons often operate near delicate structures like nerves, arteries, and internal organs. Even in routine procedures, these areas require extreme care and precision. A misplaced cut, a tool slipped a few millimeters in the wrong direction, or a misjudged angle can cause permanent damage.
Severing a nerve may lead to loss of movement or sensation. Injuring a blood vessel can cause uncontrolled bleeding, which sometimes requires emergency surgery or creates life-threatening complications. Damage to a nearby organ may result in long-term health issues that require additional procedures or ongoing care.
Failing to Limit the Risk of Infection
Every surgery carries a risk of infection, but the medical team is responsible for limiting that risk as much as possible. Infection control starts before the first incision and continues through post-operative care. That includes sterilizing equipment, properly wearing protective gear, and handling surgical tools in a clean environment.
Ignoring these steps exposes patients to infections at the surgical site or in deeper tissue. In severe cases, infections spread throughout the body, leading to sepsis—a life-threatening medical emergency. Many post-surgical infections develop because the medical team does not follow basic hygiene procedures.
Leaving an Object Inside the Patient
At the end of every surgery, the surgical staff counts each instrument and sponge to ensure nothing is left behind in the patient’s body. If the staff skips or mishandles this process, they may leave surgical tools or materials inside the patient after closing the incision.
Retained objects can cause pain, swelling, or severe infections requiring additional corrective surgery. In some cases, doctors do not discover the retained object right away. Foreign objects may go unnoticed for weeks, months, or even years, leading to long-term health complications and unnecessary suffering. Like wrong-site surgery, leaving an object inside the patient qualifies as a never event because it happens only when safety procedures break down.
Using Defective or Improperly Maintained Equipment
Surgeons rely on medical devices and surgical tools to perform procedures safely. Patients can suffer serious harm when equipment is defective, poorly maintained, or misused.
Malfunctioning devices can cause unexpected bleeding, organ damage, or incomplete procedures that require revision surgery. Hospitals and surgical centers are responsible for ensuring that all tools and machines are in safe working order before each operation.
Administering Anesthesia Incorrectly
Anesthesia is an essential part of surgery, but requires careful monitoring throughout the procedure. The anesthesia team must calculate the correct dosage, monitor the patient’s vital signs, and adjust medications as needed to avoid complications.
Mistakes in this area can cause serious harm. Too much anesthesia may lead to oxygen deprivation, brain damage, or cardiac arrest. Too little can result in anesthesia awareness, where the patient remains conscious but unable to move or speak. Allergic reactions and dangerous drug interactions can also occur if the anesthesia team fails to review the patient’s medical history. Surgical teams can prevent all of these outcomes by following standard care protocols.
Performing Surgery Without Proper Informed Consent
Before any operation, the surgeon is responsible for explaining the procedure, reviewing the risks, and making sure the patient agrees to proceed. This is known as informed consent, which must happen before the patient is taken into surgery.
Performing surgery without informed consent or changing the plan mid-surgery without the patient’s permission violates accepted medical standards. In New Mexico, this type of failure can lead to a medical malpractice claim if the patient experiences harm as a result.
Operating on a High-Risk Patient Without Proper Planning
Certain patients face higher risks during surgery because of pre-existing conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, obesity, or immune system issues. When a patient is high-risk, the surgical team must plan carefully, consult with specialists, and evaluate whether surgery is safe.
Bypassing this process increases the chance of complications that proper preparation could have avoided. In certain situations, doctors must delay surgery until the patient is medically stable. Operating without this consideration can cause injury or death that should never have occurred.
Why Choose Poulos & Coates?
Surgical error malpractice cases require both legal skill and medical knowledge. At Poulos & Coates, we bring both to the table. Our team includes seasoned trial attorneys, a licensed medical doctor who is also an attorney, and two nurses—all working together to review the legal and medical aspects of your case.
With over 100 years of combined experience representing clients across New Mexico, we know how to investigate complex surgical injuries. We help patients and families understand what is considered a surgery error, whether the harm resulted from a known risk or from a preventable failure that qualifies as surgical error malpractice.
If you believe a surgical mistake caused serious injury to you or someone you love, contact Poulos & Coates at 575-523-4444 for a free consultation.
Greig Coates, M.D., J.D.
Over the last thirty years, Dr. Coates has successfully represented plaintiffs in every conceivable type of medical malpractice lawsuit–from single-physician cases to complex litigation involving over a dozen doctors and several hospitals. Dr. Coates has taken several thousand physician depositions in his career involving every known physician specialty and sub-specialty, and almost as many depositions involving hospital personnel such as nurses, techs, and administrators. He has tried several dozen cases to successful verdicts.
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