Nerve Damage During Surgery
You trust your doctor and medical team to provide you with the highest level of care, ensuring you are safe and achieve the desired result following surgery. While undergoing a surgical procedure can be nerve-wracking, nerve damage during surgery can be life-altering. You do not just suffer physical impairments — you also feel the mental anguish of feeling betrayed by a medical professional.
The Chicago malpractice attorneys of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. have decades of experience handling medical malpractice cases and pursuing maximum compensation. Our team understands the unique challenges associated with medical malpractice cases, so we are passionate about aggressively advocating for medical negligence victims and their families.
Contact our Chicago office today if you have suffered a nerve injury during an operation. Our compassionate team can sit down with you, discuss your situation, and outline your rights and options for seeking the compensation you deserve.
Nerve Damage During Surgery: Causes and Complications
Nerves are everywhere. They send electrical signals back and forth from your brain and other parents of the body. Think of them like cables that carry messages. When the brain wants your hand to move, these cables carry the message down to your hand, and it moves. However, nerves also control other functions you rarely think about, such as breathing and digestion.
An iatrogenic nerve injury is an injury to these delicate cables caused by a medical procedure. Some of the most common causes of iatrogenic nerve injuries during medical treatment include the following:
- Surgical trauma
- Mechanical stress due to poor positioning during anesthesia
- Injection of neurotoxic drugs or substances into a nerve
- Pressure placed on a nerve during surgery or anesthesia
- Improper or careless use of medical tools and instruments during surgery
Surgical nerve damage can cause significant medical complications during and after surgery. The severity and complications of surgical nerve damage depend on the location and function of the affected nerve.
Surgical nerve damage complications can include the following:
- Pain
- Paralysis
- Muscle weakness
- Loss of sensory perception
- Numbness or tingling
These complications can cause chronic pain, disability, and mental health challenges. Complications may also be more pronounced due to delayed identification, treatment, or misdiagnosis of the surgical nerve injury.
The Devastating Impact of Surgical Nerve Damage
Nerves are vital to everything we do. They are the only means of communication between the brain and the body. When a nerve is damaged, it can prevent electrical signals from being passed between that area of the body to the brain and back. Without this communication, an individual loses sensation and mobility, causing devastating physical impairments and chronic pain.
In addition to the physical toll surgical nerve damage can cause, there is also the mental pain that many patients experience following an iatrogenic nerve injury. Physical impairments can trigger stress, depression, and anxiety, invisible injuries that are tricky to quantify. Many patients experience significant changes to their quality of life as the injury prevents them from enjoying or engaging in activities they once loved.
These injuries can also prevent a person from returning to work or doing the same job as before their surgery. On top of the physical and emotional harm of surgical nerve damage, many people face economic challenges and instability because they cannot return to work or generate the same income as they once did.
Why You Need an Experienced Nerve Damage Lawyer
Medical malpractice is an area of personal injury law that hinges on establishing that a medical professional provided a patient with a substandard level of patient care not in line with the medically accepted standard of care, resulting in an injury or harm to the patient. These cases are complex, nuanced, and highly fact-specific. Proving that a careless medical provider delivers substandard medical care that an equally trained medical professional would not have provided under the same circumstances can be challenging.
An experienced nerve damage lawyer has the legal knowledge and resources to investigate the cause of the nerve damage and hold careless practitioners accountable for their actions by gathering evidence that can support your claim. An attorney also has connections with qualified medical experts who can review your medical records and offer expert witness testimony to help prove liability and negligence.
How Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. Can Help
The legal team at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. has extensive experience managing Chicago medical malpractice cases. We understand the challenges of these cases and know what it takes to build a compelling claim that proves liability and negligence. Our lawyers are confident in our ability to help you because we have helped countless others in your shoes. So far, our office has recovered over $2.5 billion in verdicts and settlements for clients. That is meaningful compensation that helps the people we work with recover from their injuries and find financial stability during uncertain times.
We take a client-focused approach to our medical malpractice cases, offering compassionate support and personalized legal guidance. Our law firm strives to maximize compensation while ensuring our clients feel heard and respected throughout the legal process. We are routinely recognized as one of the top law firms in the region because we work diligently to obtain results for the people who need it most, those injured by the negligent actions of medical professionals.
You do not have to worry about being able to afford our services, either. We work on a contingency basis. That means you will pay us nothing upfront; instead, we take our fee out of the compensation we secure for you. If we do not recover money for you, you owe us nothing.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Now for More Information
Surgical nerve damage can rewrite your entire life. The Chicago medical malpractice lawyers with Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. can immediately investigate your situation and build a case with the best chance of obtaining a favorable outcome. We want to see you walk away with maximum compensation for your injuries so you can start the process of rebuilding your life.
You deserve fair compensation and justice after a surgical nerve injury. Contact our office now to set up a free, no-obligation case evaluation.
