Why You Should Familiarize Yourself with Procedures Before Surgery

In a perfect world, doctors would keep their patients fully informed and in-the-know about their care so that complications and risks are managed effectively for optimal patient safety. Unfortunately, patients are often undereducated on the surgical procedures that doctors might recommend. Therefore, you may need to explore your own resources with plenty of questions in pre-surgical consultations and online research to inform you about a given procedure. Below you can see exactly why you will want to invest the time to get to know a surgical procedure before you go under the knife.

Understand possible surgical risks.
There is no surgical procedure that is without risks, even with modern advances in surgical care. Not only will you want to know which risks are a possibility with your surgery, but you will also want to explore ways that these risks can be minimized.

Assess the success rate of past procedures.
When you investigate the success rate of a surgical procedure, you will want to look into both the national average and the success rates of a specific hospital or surgeon. In a recent investigation of a Florida hospital, fatalities resulting from pediatric open heart surgery occurred at a rate more than 9% above the national average, yet patients were completely uninformed of these numbers. That means that you should rely on more than just your doctor’s word when you are assessing the risk of a surgical procedure.

Explore alternative treatment options.
One important factor to consider with any surgery is whether the procedure is completely necessary. In some cases there are alternative therapies available, and it is always worth the time to seek a second opinion so that you may make the most informed decisions about your care.

In the event of surgical complications or fatalities, patients are often told that these outcomes were the result of unavoidable risks when medical negligence has actually occurred. With Pegalis & Erickson, LLC, you can find justice in your case with the compensation needed to cover the costs of your care. To contact our Long Island office for a free consultation with our team, call us at (516) 684-2900 today.