Cut Bile Duct During Surgery

Mistakes during surgery can cause serious, life-altering injuries to patients, who must then deal with the repercussions of those mistakes for the rest of their lives. One common such mistake during gastrointestinal surgery is for the surgeon to mistakenly cut or entirely sever the body’s bile duct, which can cause serious medical trauma, infections, and even pose a risk of death if left untreated. If you or a loved one experienced a cut bile duct during surgery, contact a professional medical malpractice attorney at Altman & Altman LLP today.

The bile duct is a part of the body which connects the liver to the gallbladder. It acts as a passageway between the liver – where bile, a chemical that aids in the breaking down of food, is produced – and the gallbladder – another organ in the body where excessive bile is stored when not needed for digestion.

If a person produces too much bile, it can remain stored in the gallbladder for extensive time period, which can lead to the formation of gallstones. Gallstones are essentially hardened amounts of bile which, while incredibly painful, often pass through the body naturally.

However in more serious cases, gallstones may continuously form, which will require the surgical removal of the gallbladder. While this surgery is relatively common and relatively safe compared to other types of surgical operations, risks do exist – and one of the most common and potentially dangerous risks during gallbladder surgery is the nicking or severing of the bile duct.

Such an error can occur to any surgeon, no matter how experienced or professionally they conduct themselves in the operating room. One slip of the hand, or one unexpected movement, can cause this potentially devastating injury. If a patient suffers a cut bile duct during surgery, they may experience:

• Internal bleeding, which can cause other complications including deadly infections
• Infections of the abdominal cavity or of the pancreas, which is known as pancreatitis
• Inflammation of the bile duct or inflammation of surrounding areas due to leaking bile from the cut bile duct

Proving Liability

Surgical errors are always potential grounds for a medical malpractice suit, as surgeons and doctors and medical staff – from the anesthesiologist to the resident nurses – all carry a heavy burden of responsibility to not cause undue harm to the patients they care for. Mistakes certainly happen to everybody, but mistakes in surgery can have lifelong implications, and it is therefore all the more important that such mistakes be held accountable.

Whether the error occurred due to a surgeon being lackadaisical during the procedure, an anesthesiologist who failed to administer the correct dosage of anesthetic, or a nurse who failed to change bed sheets from a prior patient which led to an infection developing in the surgical wound during recovery, the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Altman & Altman are prepared to get to the bottom of who is responsible and get to work in securing you financial compensation for your pain and suffering.

Surgical errors can result in extended hospital stays to correct the mistake, which means additional medical expenses and additional time missed from work – further complicating your life and adding to the expense of getting treatment. Our Boston-based attorneys have advocated for our clients from all over Massachusetts to either help secure settlements or provide them the best legal prowess in the courtroom.

Working with one of our medical malpractice attorneys will give you the best chance to recover financial compensation as a result of a medical malpractice suit, so find out what your legal options are today with a free consultations with one of our experts.

Call today at 617.492.3000 or toll-free at 800.481.6199. We are available 24/7.