Surgery is a complicated, involved process that utilizes a large surgical team comprised of anywhere from a few to more than 20 medical professionals from many disciplines. With all of these people involved with your care, there is a much higher risk of miscommunication and negligence, which can lead to surgical errors.

When you are brought in for a surgical procedure, it may or may not be of your own choosing. Some surgeries are elective and scheduled ahead of time, while others are needed on an emergency basis. Regardless of why you are getting a surgical procedure, there are many members of the surgical team that can create surgical errors before you even hit the operating table.

Part of the pre-operative procedure is to make sure that the patient is properly identified and that the procedure to be performed is confirmed. Negligence in these surgical team safety checks can result in serious surgical errors when the wrong operation is performed on the wrong patient.

Identification of any potential surgical complications such as conflicting medications, allergies or pre-existing conditions is also important at this stage in your operation. If a member of the team fails to recognize a potentially dangerous situation, they may end up causing surgical errors during the procedure.

Most surgical errors take place during the surgical procedure. The medical team is responsible for monitoring your vital signs, ensuring that the correct procedure is being performed in the proper area of your body and removing instruments or surgical materials before the incision is closed. A large team of nurses, surgeons and anesthesiologists are all a part of your surgical/medical team while in the operating room.

Communication amongst the medical team during the operation is critical to prevent surgical errors. Additional safety and procedure checks need to be made to reconfirm patient identity, procedure type and surgery location. The surgical team must also be diligent in watching your vital signs, instructing each other on the progress of the operation and double-checking that no surgical implements are left out of place.

After a successful surgical procedure there is still opportunity for the team to make serious surgical errors. Improperly securing the incision site is often one of the leading causes of serious injury following surgery. The incision may reopen or become infected if not properly tended to by the post-operative surgical staff.

Also, many surgery patients are never properly informed of post-operative care by their medical team, leading to accidental complications when they are released from the hospital. It is very important that the surgical team provides you with full instructions on how to care for yourself when you are discharged from the hospital in order to prevent post-operative surgical errors.

From pre-operative preparation to post-operative care, there are numerous instances where surgical errors can occur. Your surgical team is trusted with your care in all aspects of your procedure, and you should be able to undergo surgery without worry. If things do go wrong because of a surgical team's negligence, a Virginia medical malpractice claim may be necessary.