New York City Organ Punctures & Perforations Lawyer
During an operation or a diagnostic medical procedure involving an endoscope or similar instrument, the doctor can make a mistake that punctures or perforates an organ or tears tissues, creating significant health problems that can be life-threatening if not promptly identified and repaired. Organ punctures and perforations are an insidious form of medical malpractice, because you may never be told that something went wrong during your operation that should never have happened. It often takes the work of a skilled medical malpractice attorney and medical expert to uncover the negligence and hold the doctor or hospital accountable for their medical mistake.
Attorney Michael Gunzburg helps medical malpractice victims throughout New York City, including The Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. If you think malpractice might be behind an injury or complication you or a family member suffered during a surgery or other medical procedure, call our New York City Organ punctures and perforations lawyer Michael Gunzburg, P.C., for a no-cost, confidential consultation.
Complications From an Organ Puncture or Perforation
During surgery or an invasive diagnostic procedure such as endoscopy or colonoscopy, the doctor performing the operation could accidentally nick, cut or tear a vital organ. Any organ could potentially be disrupted by these medical mistakes, including the bowel, intestines, liver, stomach, uterus or bladder. Even a small nick can lead to internal bleeding and blood loss, infection, leakage of toxic fluids into the body, or organ failure. These complications can be fatal if not identified and repaired immediately.
An organ puncture or perforation could cause a serious condition known as peritonitis. A person’s abdomen houses a whole host of vital organs – liver, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, spleen – that are surrounded by a membrane called the peritoneum. Peritonitis is an inflammation of this tissue layer that can cause nausea, vomiting, fever and intense abdominal pain. A patient with peritonitis will need to be treated with antibiotics and likely need a surgical procedure to drain the infected fluid in the peritoneum. Peritonitis could follow from a burst appendix or a negligent puncture of perforation of the intestines or other organs during surgery or other medical procedures.
You Might Not Know Why an Organ Puncture Occurred, or That It Happened at All
If the surgical staff notice an organ puncture or perforation during surgery, they can act to repair it on the spot. If repaired successfully, you may never know something went wrong during the surgery, except in the unlikely event a member of the surgical team steps forward and lets you know what happened.
In many instances, however, the surgeon and the surgical nurses don’t notice the injury. It’s only after experiencing post-operative symptoms such as a hard, distended stomach and severe abdominal pain that doctors go back in, such as through exploratory surgery, to find and repair the damage. They still might not volunteer the information that they caused the harm through malpractice, instead implying that the symptoms indicate a normal post-operative complication.
At Michael Gunzburg, P.C., we strive to find out what happened in the operating room and learn why the injury occurred. Was it a simple act of negligence? Were the medical staff untrained, inexperienced or incompetent to handle the procedure? Did the hospital fail to implement standard practices that would help prevent such mistakes from taking place? Our clients want to know why a medical error occurred, and we dedicate our practice to finding out these answers while working to secure significant compensation for the harm done.
Call Our New York City Medical Malpractice Lawyer After an Organ Puncture or Perforation Injury
An organ puncture or perforation can occur during surgery, an invasive diagnostic test, or even acupuncture. If you experienced post-operative pain and complications that required another surgery or invasive medical procedure to find out what went wrong and fix the problem, you might be entitled to compensation if you can prove the complications were the result of medical malpractice. In New York City, call Michael Gunzburg, P.C., for a free consultation about what went wrong and what we can do to help you. Call 212-725-8500 in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens.
