It’s highly disappointing when agony and pain interfere with your daily lifestyle. The problem is challenging especially if it is foot or ankle pain. After all, it is that part of your body that allows you to walk and run. Therefore, it is important to evaluate what treatment is available for you. Get in touch with an orthopedic medical professional as they are the best ones to judge your medical condition. Not all foot and ankle pain requires surgery. Some might easily recover with rehabilitation and medication. However, in certain cases, your doctor might advice you to get a surgery. People, especially the ones having an active lifestyle may experience ankle or foot pain. Your orthopedic surgeon will recommend arthroscopic surgery if you face persistent pain and discomfort. Though arthroscopic surgery is a minimally-invasive procedure, people might face complications due to a breach of the standard of care by the doctors.
What is arthroscopic surgery?
In Arthroscopy, the doctor uses a camera that is inserted through a small incision. This camera is inserted to check the joint problems on the big video screen. It gives a clear picture of why the patient is suffering from pain or swelling. Unlike the traditional surgical process, arthroscopic surgery is considered as a safer procedure. This is because small incisions are made in arthroscopic surgeries. Though it is a safe procedure, patients might face serious complications. This can happen due to medical negligence by the surgeons or the medical staff. In the United States, patients who have sustained injuries due to surgical malpractice can file a lawsuit against the surgeon or the medical staffs involved in the surgery. Medical malpractice attorneys will guide you in this matter and will seek compensation on your behalf. They might obtain medical expert guidance from an orthopedic expert witness to seek medico-legal guidance on your case. These expert witnesses will check if there has been a breach of the medical standards by the surgeon.
Some of the complications that you can face after an orthopedic surgery include-
- Infection at the site of surgery
- Bleeding or blood clots
- Stiffness in the joints
- Swelling or inflammation of the joints
- Nerve damage
The surgeon should thoroughly review your medical condition before asking you to get arthroscopic surgery. People with medical conditions like diabetes might take extra time to recover. Such patients need extra care and therefore, the doctors should prescribe pre-operative or post-operative medications so that they can recover easily after a surgery. However, failure to take these points into consideration gives a chance to the patient to seek compensation for the negligence. However, proving the negligence of the surgeon or the other medical staff is not an easy job. There are various things that need to be proven in order to receive compensation for a medical malpractice case:
- That the doctor owes a duty of care to the patient
- That the doctor or the medical staff has breached the duty of care
- The patient has sustained injuries because of the breach of duty of care.
To prove this, the attorney will gather evidence and might call upon a medical expert witness for a better understanding of the case facts.
