Indiana Surgical Error Attorneys

Last updated on July 3, 2025

Surgical errors can and do occur during surgery. Some surgical errors occur as a result of negligent surgical mistakes that fail to comply with reasonable standards of medical care. The errors can be made by general surgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, colon and rectum surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, urological surgeons, other types of surgeons, surgical assistants, anesthesiologists and nurses.

At The Cline Law Firm, we understand the profound impact that medical malpractice, such as negligent surgical errors, can have on patients and their families. Our experienced team is dedicated to seeking justice for persons experiencing such preventable surgery mistakes. Our firm has handled many surgical error/surgical mistake cases.

Common Types Of Surgical Errors And Surgical Mistakes

Surgical errors and surgical mistakes can occur in a variety of ways. Some of the most common types of surgical errors or surgical mistakes include the following. This is not a complete list. It is a list of some of the most common types of injuries and conditions caused by negligent surgery:

• Bowel injury or bowel perforation: In almost any general surgery that occurs in the abdomen, a patient’s small intestine and colon are in or near the operative site. Great care must always be taken by a surgeon to prevent negligent injury to the small intestine or colon during surgery. This requires precise attention to the location of the bowel during surgery and careful steps to remove the bowel from the operative site where cutting and burning tools may be used while performing surgery. If a surgeon is not careful while performing surgery in the abdomen, the surgeon can mistakenly and negligently injure the small intestine or colon. If such an injury occurs, it can lead to the spillage of harmful gastrointestinal fluid from the bowel into the abdomen, where it can cause serious and permanent personal injuries to other anatomical structures. Such spillage can also cause serious infection in the abdomen, including sepsis, can cause the need to remove sections of bowel from a patient, and can also cause death.
• Vascular injury: In any general surgery that occurs, there are always blood vessels in or near the operative site. Great care must always be taken by a surgeon to prevent negligent injury to vascular structures (arteries and veins) during any surgery. This requires precise attention to the location of vascular structures in or near the operative site and careful steps to remove vascular structures not involved in the surgery from the operative site where cutting and burning tools may be used to perform surgery. If a surgeon is not careful while performing surgery, the surgeon can mistakenly and negligently injure vascular structures. If such an injury occurs, it can result in acute blood loss, which can lead to the death of a patient if not timely diagnosed and treated.
• Kidney, ureter and bladder injury: In most surgeries that occur in the abdomen, structures of a patient’s urinary tract system, including the kidneys, ureters and bladder, are in or near the operative site. Great care must always be taken by a surgeon to prevent negligent injury to urinary tract structures during surgery. This requires precise attention to the location of the kidneys, ureters and bladder during the surgery and careful steps to remove those structures from the operative site where cutting and burning tools are used to perform surgery. If a surgeon is not careful while performing surgery in the abdomen, the surgeon can mistakenly and negligently injure a kidney, ureter or the bladder. This can cause the leakage of urine into the abdominal cavity, which can result in danger to other organs and anatomic structures, serious infection, sepsis and death if not timely diagnosed and treated.
• Gallbladder surgery: Gallbladder removal surgery (cholecystectomy) can cause several types of injury in a patient if the surgery is not performed carefully in compliance with reasonable standards of surgical care. That surgery can lead to direct injury to the bile duct, the leakage of harmful bile into the abdomen, bleeding and infection. Great care must always be taken by a surgeon to prevent these types of injuries. This requires precise attention to the location of the gallbladder, the bile duct and surrounding vascular structures during surgery. If a surgeon is not careful while performing gallbladder removal surgery in the abdomen, the surgeon can mistakenly and negligently cause bile leaks, injury to the bile duct, bleeding and infection, which can cause serious illness and death.
• Orthopedic joint replacement surgery: Orthopedic joint replacement surgery is very common today. This surgery requires meticulous attention to detail to prevent avoidable complications caused by an orthopedic surgeon’s failure to comply with reasonable standards of orthopedic surgery care. If an orthopedic surgeon is not careful in performing this surgery, then the surgeon’s negligence can cause a wide array of injuries to the patient. Those injuries include postoperative infection, blood clots, pulmonary embolism, heart attack, nerve injury, bone fracture, loosening or dislocation of  an implant, improper sizing of an implant that can cause the need to remove and replace the implant, and systemic medical problems.
• Anesthesia errors: Common errors related to anesthesia care provided during surgery can occur due to improper patient positioning for surgery, anesthesia drug use, incorrect intubation technique, failure to safely monitor vital signs, failure to promptly and adequately correct vital sign abnormalities, premature or negligent extubation, improper regional anesthesia technique, and improper post-anesthesia care in the PACU. Anesthesia errors can result in severe complications, including brain injury or death.
• Failure to timely diagnose infection or sepsis: In any surgery that is performed, infection is always a potential risk that can almost always be prevented if the surgical team uses good and safe sterile technique before, during and after surgery. Infections can occur as a result of many different substandard techniques. If an infection is not timely diagnosed after surgery, then it can develop into a life-threatening medical emergency, sepsis, caused by the body’s extreme response to an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body’s inflammatory response to an infection becomes overwhelming and damages its own tissues and organs. Sepsis can progress to severe sepsis and septic shock and can lead to organ injury, dysfunction, and death if it is not promptly treated. Symptoms of sepsis can vary depending on the severity of the condition and may include fever, chills, confusion, rapid heart rate and breathing, and decreased urine output. Early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, including antibiotics, intravenous fluids and supportive care, are critical to saving the life of a patient.
• Retained surgical instruments: During surgery, surgical instruments, needles or sponges are sometimes negligently left inside the patient’s body. This can lead to infections, internal injuries, or other injuries and the need for additional treatment and surgery. These errors are often detected only after the patient becomes very sick or dies.
• Wrong-site surgery: This occurs when surgery is performed on the wrong part of the body. Sometimes, a surgeon operates on the wrong extremity, at the wrong level of the spine during spine surgery or at another wrong location. These errors can cause serious, unnecessary injury and often require additional surgery to correct.

Why Choose The Cline Law Firm?

At The Cline Law Firm, we zealously advocate for patients (our clients) who have experienced serious injuries caused by negligently caused surgical errors and surgical mistakes. Our team of skilled attorneys has extensive experience and success in handling surgical error or surgical mistake cases. We understand the complexity of cases involving surgical errors and surgical mistakes and are committed to providing personalized legal representation to achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients.

How Our Law Firm Can Help You

• Experienced attorneys: Our legal team has a proven track record of successfully handling cases involving surgical errors and surgical mistakes.
• Personalized attention: We take the time to understand the unique circumstances and facts of each case and provide tailored legal strategies to address the specific needs of each case.
• Compassionate advocacy: We are dedicated to supporting our clients through the legal process with empathy and understanding. We strive to alleviate the burden of legal proceedings so you can focus on your recovery and your life.
• Selection of highly qualified physicians to serve as expert witnesses for our clients: Our law firm consults with the most highly qualified doctors that we can find anywhere in the United States who are willing to review the facts of the health care received by our clients and willing to provide testimony in court to prove that a health care provider failed to treat our client in compliance with reasonable standards of health care that caused injury to our client.

Discuss Your Case With Us In A Free Consultation

There is no cost or obligation for speaking with our lawyers about your surgical error injury. Call us in Carmel at 317-505-1760. You may send us an email if you prefer. We represent people throughout the state.