Preparing for surgery can be a lengthy process. With exceptions for emergency care, people often need to pass pre-surgical screening to ensure they can safely undergo a recommended procedure. They must sign consent forms well in advance.
They schedule their procedures weeks before the surgery occurs and must arrive at the medical facility hours before the operation for intake and preparatory procedures. One of those steps before surgery involves marking the patient’s body with a permanent marker.
Why do surgeons or patients draw on a surgical site before an operation occurs?
Wrong-site errors are a serious concern
While surgery can be a life-altering experience for a patient, it is another day at work for medical professionals. Burnout, busy schedules and communication breakdowns can all lead to devastating surgical errors. In some cases, those errors are so severe they have a permanent impact on a patient.
Wrong-site and wrong-side surgical errors, where surgeons operate on the wrong part of the body or the wrong side of a patient’s body, can cause devastating medical setbacks. The patient may be unable to undergo the procedure they require. Their recovery may take longer, especially if a second procedure must occur.
Drawing on the body to indicate the surgical site before the procedure is one way to limit the likelihood of this mistake occurring. Hospitals often have surgical teams mark patients before they receive any anesthesia to reduce the risk of these devastating errors.
When serious surgical errors affect a patient’s prognosis or care costs, they may have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Reviewing surgical records with a skilled legal team can help people determine if they have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit after a botched surgical procedure.