If something goes wrong during a medical surgery, you expect that your medical team will identify the problem and take immediate steps to correct it.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.
Various types of abdominal surgeries—including those for hysterectomy, hernia repair, colonoscopy, prolapse repair, and gallbladder surgery—carry a risk that the surgeon will mistakenly nick or cut the bowel or colon.
If this happens, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the patient may bring a successful claim for negligence against the surgeon.
However, if the surgeon fails to recognize this dangerous injury during or immediately following surgery—and fails to treat it properly—the patient may have a strong personal injury claim.
Our Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers have extensive experience in representing victims who have suffered cut, nicked, and perforated small intestine and colon complications because of negligent surgeons. With over 75 years of combined legal experience, we can help you stand up to aggressive insurance carriers and medical providers to ensure you recover full compensation for your losses.
What Is a Cut or Lacerated Bowel?
If a surgeon mistakenly nicks or cuts a portion of the bowel or colon during surgery, it creates an extremely serious situation. That nick or cut disrupts the natural protection that the bowel wall provides, allowing waste contents to spill into the abdomen. That waste contains bacteria, which can quickly create an infection.
If the infection enters the bloodstream, it may cause a widespread infection called sepsis. This life-threatening condition requires immediate treatment, which includes repairing the bowel so that the open area is once again sealed shut.
Often, surgeons also need to perform additional surgeries to drain the waste products that have built up in the abdomen. Sometimes patients have to be fitted with a colostomy bag until the damaged bowel or colon heals.
How long the injury is left untreated plays a large role in the patient’s health and the possibility of full recovery. If the surgeon immediately recognizes the problem and fixes it, the patient will experience a much better outcome than if the surgeon is negligent and allows the problem to exist for days before finally realizing what happened.
If left untreated for too long, this sort of injury can lead to organ failure and even death.
Was the Nicked or Cut Bowel Medical Malpractice?
To prove medical malpractice in a nicked or cut bowel case, the plaintiff must be able to show that the surgeon or other medical professionals were negligent in causing the injury. That means the following must be true:
- There must have exited a doctor-patient relationship
- The evidence must show that the doctor’s actions did not conform to the accepted standard of practice
- The evidence must show that the surgeon’s actions (or inaction) directly caused the injury
- The patient’s injury must directly lead to the damages claimed
We will be able to build a strong case for compensation, provided that our Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers can determine that the physician breached the accepted standard of care by failing to promptly recognize and treat bowel perforation.
How Often Do Surgeons Miss a Lacerated Bowel?
Symptoms of a nicked, cut, or perforated bowel include stomach pain, vomiting, chills, nausea, fever, and trouble moving. However, surgeons don’t always connect these symptoms to the actual issue. They may keep the patient in the hospital or prescribe antibiotics without repairing the damaged bowel, allowing the infection to get worse.
Scientists recently examined data from nine medical institutions between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019. They looked specifically at the frequency of diagnostic errors related to bowel perforation and reported their results in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to their analysis, delayed diagnosis occurred in 31.4 percent of the cases presented.
Instead of correctly identifying the cut or nicked bowel, the medical professionals in these cases most often diagnosed gastroenteritis (infection and inflammation of the digestive system), constipation, and small bowel obstruction.
Why Hire a Virginia Beach Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
Our Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers have a sound track record of securing settlements and trial awards for victims who suffered cut bowels. In one case, for example, we had independent experts review our client’s medical records. They found evidence that supported the surgeon’s negligence, and the jury awarded our client $860,000.
If you or a loved one suffered a serious hospital stay, lasting injuries, or death from a nicked or cut bowel, contact our Virginia Beach medical malpractice lawyers today. We will be happy to examine the facts of your case to determine whether the surgeon and/or the hospital or medical center may have acted negligently.
Named a “Best Law Firm” for general personal injury by U.S. News & World Report multiple times since 2010, we’ve practiced only Virginia law since 1985 and have over 100 years of combined legal experience.
To schedule a free consultation, give us a call. Our offices are located in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Hampton, and Norfolk.