What is Surgical Error?
Updated January 24, 2026
A preventable mistake during surgery, such as operating on the wrong body part, leaving instruments inside the patient, or damaging healthy tissue.
Understanding Surgical Error
Surgical errors include wrong-site surgery, anesthesia errors, nerve damage, and post-operative complications from negligent care. "Never events" are errors so serious they should never occur. These cases often involve clear negligence but may require expert testimony.
Examples
- 1Surgical sponge left inside patient
- 2Wrong kidney removed
- 3Nerve damaged during routine procedure
Related Terms
Medical Malpractice
Professional negligence by a healthcare provider whose treatment falls below the accepted standard of care, resulting in injury or death to the patient.
Informed Consent
A patient's agreement to medical treatment after being fully informed of the risks, benefits, alternatives, and potential outcomes.
Misdiagnosis
A medical malpractice claim based on a healthcare provider incorrectly diagnosing a condition, leading to improper treatment or delayed proper treatment.
Birth Injury
Harm to a baby or mother caused by medical negligence during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or immediately after birth.
Medication Error
A preventable mistake in prescribing, dispensing, or administering medication that causes harm to a patient.
For Medical Malpractice cases
The record behind a term like this one is built by the client, not the file.
Quilia asks clients about treatment, appointments and how they are doing, records the answers on the case, and syncs it to Clio, Filevine, MyCase, Neos and more.
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