Blunder Leaves Woman Awake for Surgery

[MisfitsFiend]

oops...



Really sucks to be her!!! I'd be suing for more than ~ $79, 000.

VIENNA (Reuters) - A woman lay awake during surgery for 45 minutes, unable to move or call for help, after staff forgot to hook up the machine pumping out anaesthetic, the Austrian daily Kurier reported Monday.

-mf

 

[Eli]

O..M...G... :Q

 

[Syringer]

I hear this is very common.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: Syringer
I hear this is very common.

Yes, this isn't an isolated incident. I remember seeing a special on 20/20 some years back about accidents like this. Can you imagine being in surgery for hours without any anaesthetic?

 

[PG]

whiner

 

[EvilYoda]

man, that's the stuff that nightmares are made of. ooooooooouch.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I bet that hurt.

 

[CFster]

Ouch, that's gotta sting. How about a nice cold Mike's Hard Lemonade?

 

[filmmaker]

Originally posted by: CFster
Ouch, that's gotta sting. How about a nice cold Mike's Hard Lemonade?

Haha... priceless

 

[Yossarian]

well, she probably won't bitch about how painful childbirth is now

<--------runs away very quickly

 

[rh71]

I had emergency spleenectomy a few years back. When they told me I was going to get the gas right then, I just shut my eyes and thought about nothing. Oh how I wanted to go to bed right there and then. Thank God it went according to plan.

I can't believe this woman couldn't even blink her eyes really quick to try to get the docs/nurses attention.

 

[biffbacon]

Originally posted by: Syringer
I hear this is very common.

as an anesthesia resident, i can tell you that this is not very common. In fact it is extremely rare. Sometimes errors occur in medicine, as with any line of work. In a year, anesthesiologist perform thousands upon thousands of procedures, and it would be ridiculous to think that everyone would be flawless. Nonetheless, it is a terribly unfortunate situation, and I feel for the woman.

 

[huey1124]

yeah, things like this happen more often than you think. if i remember correctly, malpractice insurance for anesthesiologists is one of the highest, if not the highest, because of incidences just like this.

i also remember how often times patients are declared dead by physicians, put in a body bag, and sent to mortuaries just to find out that they are still alive. there was a case where a woman woke up inside a mortuary refrigerator, inside a body bag. apparently it's pretty difficult to detect faint heartbeats.

 

[biffbacon]

I can't believe this woman couldn't even blink her eyes really quick to try to get the docs/nurses attention.

she ws most likely given a paralytic drug that paralyzed every muscle in her body

 

[biffbacon]

Originally posted by: huey1124
yeah, things like this happen more often than you think. if i remember correctly, malpractice insurance for anesthesiologists is one of the highest, if not the highest, because of incidences just like this.

i also remember how often times patients are declared dead by physicians, put in a body bag, and sent to mortuaries just to find out that they are still alive. there was a case where a woman woke up inside a mortuary refrigerator, inside a body bag. apparently it's pretty difficult to detect faint heartbeats.

1. anesthesia malpractivce insurance is high, but not as high as an OB/GYN.
2. as far as people being pronounced dead that arent, well, thats down right ludicrous. i have been in the healthcare field for a long time, and have never seen or heard of a case in modern medicine. Heart beats are hard to detect? No, sorry. Any patient crashing in a hospital would be hooked up to a cardiac telemetry device (EKG), and ANY cardiac electrical activity would be detected

 

[rh71]

Couldn't she have just passed out from the pain ? 45 minutes is a helluva long time.

 

[Rainsford]

Um, what kind of half-assed hospital staff doesn't double check the patient is really anesthitized before starting surgery? I mean really, seems like common sense to me.

 

[Goosemaster]

Wait...so anesthesiologoists sometimes forget to use the anesthetic?!?


SO WTF are they doing in there....

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: huey1124
i also remember how often times patients are declared dead by physicians, put in a body bag, and sent to mortuaries just to find out that they are still alive. there was a case where a woman woke up inside a mortuary refrigerator, inside a body bag. apparently it's pretty difficult to detect faint heartbeats.

that's where the custom of the "wake" came from.

 

[Schadenfroh]

i woke up during my wisdom teeth surgery, i heard what they were saying and i could somewhat feel what they were doing, no pain but i guess pressure. but i did not open my eyes, cuase i wanted to go back to sleep. which after a lil while i did.

 

[dmw16]

I think just cuz you are awake doesnt mean you'd feel it. I would like to hear a proffessional word on this tho. Seems to me, that if you felt it you would very rapidly pass out from the pain. Also, on the wisdom teeth thing - i was awake too. But just felt pressure, no pain. But that type of anthestisia(sp) is different.
-doug

 

[TommyVercetti]

Reminds me of the Marathon Man, that dentist scene.

 

[tcsenter]

Yes, this isn't an isolated incident. I remember seeing a special on 20/20 some years back about accidents like this. Can you imagine being in surgery for hours without any anaesthetic?

Its an urban legend. Being paralyzed but alert (unintended) while you're having surgery is extremely uncommon. It happens, but there are bigger risks in the operating room to worry about. Many alleged claims of being 'awake' during surgery are found to be a type of hallucinatory/dream like episode, thought to be precipitated by the combination of drugs/anesthetic agents used and a patient's anxiety over the procedure.

 

[hawkeye81x]

I think there was a segment on worst case scenario about this.
I forgot the advice they gave...

 

[OutHouse]

thanks man. My wife is going in for surgery Thursday morning. :Q