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Anesthesia - Medical Negligence Compensation
Thousands of clinical compensation claims are initiated every year in the United Kingdom by medical negligence solicitors on behalf of people from all walks of life. A multitude of operations and procedures are executed successfully however a small percentage do go wrong, laying the grounds for medical negligence solicitors to take legal action in order to claim compensation. Both legal aid and the no win no fee scheme are available to pursue medical negligence compensation claims.
Please contact us for help pursuing your claim.
Medical Negligence Compensation Claim Solicitors Helpline 0844 332 0095
Fortunately, major side effects from having anesthesia are not common. Complications of anesthesia are somewhat related to your overall health at the time of surgery, how you respond to anesthesia and the kind of anesthesia used.
In some cases, your age can become a factor in anesthesia complications. Complications increase with age as well as with the medical complications that come with age, such as heart conditions, circulatory diseases and nervous system disorders. You should be screened for these diseases before undergoing general anesthesia.
Local and regional anesthesias are less risky than general anesthesia. Nevertheless, there are risk factors for these types of anesthesia you should know about. High doses of local anesthetic can be toxic to the body and can affect the way you breathe, your heart beat, your blood pressure and other bodily functions. Even in cases where local anesthesia is used, equipment to prepare yourself for emergencies should be made available.
In regional anesthesia, a nerve block is used to block all the nerves distal to (past) the nerve that is blocked. Nerve damage can occur in such cases that can lead to residual numbness, pain or weakness. It is imperative that the practitioner gets close to the nerve but not inject directly into the nerve or there will be compromise to the nerve that can be permanent. Spinal or epidural anesthesia carries the risk of toxicity to the body if the anesthetic becomes absorbed into the bloodstream. You can also get a blood clot at the site of the anesthetic injection (a localized blood clot) as well as bruising or localized swelling.
A common complication of a spinal anesthetic is what's called a spinal headache. This is caused by leakage of the spinal fluid into the tissue space and a relative lack of spinal fluid around the brain. It happens to about 1-2 percent of all people who undergo spinal anesthesia. A treatment called a "blood patch" is used to cover the hole that is leaking the cerebrospinal fluid.
General anesthesia can cause serious side effects. If you are otherwise healthy, the complication rate is low. General anesthesia suppresses the reflexes of the throat so that you can get aspiration of fluid into the lungs. Coughing and gagging on the tube are possible. If the endotracheal tube is misplaced into the esophagus, one can have a lack of oxygen to the system and you can suffer a period of hypoxia.
The ET tube can also cause high blood pressure and a rapid heart rate. Injury can occur to the teeth upon insertion of the endotracheal tube and there can be swelling to the larynx, injury to the larynx and a sore throat. Stroke can occur as a result of general anesthesia and death occurs in about one out of 250,000 persons getting general anesthesia, with higher rates in the very sick or elderly.
Awareness of the surgery during general anesthesia is extremely rare. Doctors use a lot of monitoring devices to make sure you are not awake during the procedure. Nevertheless, it can occur in very rare situations and can be quite frightening.
One can have allergic or other reactions to anesthetic medications. These are also very uncommon. If you know you've had a problem with general anesthesia, speak to your anesthesiologist about it so no further problems can occur.
There is a rare and potentially lethal condition found in general anesthesia known as malignant hyperthermia. In malignant hypothermia, the temperature of the individual rises to near fatal levels. It is associated with inhalation anesthetics, as well as with the medication called succinylcholine, which is a muscle relaxant.