Anesthesiology Experts Discuss Permanent Nerve Injury Due to Inappropriate Surgical Positioning

Case Overview

This case involves a female patient in Hawaii who underwent a total hysterectomy in response to a uterine cancer diagnosis some months prior to the date of the incident in question. The surgery took longer than expected, as the operating surgeon took occasional tissue samples from the patient and sent them to pathology in order to gauge the extent of the cancer. As a result of the delays this process caused, the patient was kept in a surgical position that had a known risk of peripheral nerve injury for an extended period of time. Reports from the operation noted that devices typically used to minimize the risk of injury were not used, and the patient’s position was not shifted or otherwise altered over the course of several hours. When the patient woke up, she immediately noticed weakness and loss of sensation in her leg. The patient continued to suffer from a loss of leg function after the surgery, which forced her to quit her job in retail service.