UK ANAESTHETIC AWARENESS COMPENSATION CLAIMS
Anaesthetic awareness is the spontaneous recall of events by a patient during general anaesthesia. A patient who can subsequently describe events as they happened has suffered this problem which can occur at any stage in an operation. Most reports indicate that it happens for only part of the surgical procedure however a significant number of patients endure it for the entire operation. The general incidence whilst the patient is supposedly under the
influence of a general anaesthetic ranges up to 1%. The incidence involving pain can be up to 10% in obstetric cases, and the highest incidence occurs during Caesarean section especially when carried out as an emergency operation.
Anaesthetic awareness causes can be categorised as follows:
- Faulty technique 70%
- Failure to check equipment 20%
- Faulty equipment 2.5%
- Justified risk taking 2.5%
The most common sensations of inadequate anaesthesia include:
- pain which is most commonly associated with skin incision and insertion of sutures.
- paralysis accompanied by feelings of great distress at being unable to signal wakefulness.
- psychological disturbances including panic, a sense of disaster, a feeling of death or dying with subsequent recurrent nightmares, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, agoraphobia, claustrophobia and thoughts of suicide. Some mothers resent their baby for the agony it caused and some are too frightened to have more children or further surgery.
Awareness during anaesthesia is a problem that surgeons are well aware of and whilst some people are particularly resilient to anaesthetics there are a number of things that can be done to reduce the incidence including:
- obtaining a thorough preoperative history
- adequate premedication
- all apparatus should be checked to exclude faults and malfunctions
- the proper use of all new or unfamiliar equipment should be fully understood
- all syringes should be labelled, to ensure the right drug is given at the right time
- vaporizers should contain sufficient chemicals and monitoring devices should be used to detect inadequate concentration
- opiate anaesthesia may need to be supplemented for certain resilient patients
We are a nertwork of specialist solicitors who are members of The Law Society panel of medical negligence experts. Legal aid is available for qualifying applicants to investigate and take legal proceedings to claim compensation as a result of medical negligence and our solicitors are franchised to make an immediate application for legal aid. For those who do not qualify it may be possible to take proceedings using the no win no fee scheme.
As a result of anaesthetic awareness patients often suffer from intense pain and crippling psychological disturbances. If you believe that your anaesthetist was negligent and failed to take proper care of your medical welfare then you may be able to claim compensation. For free legal advice just complete the contact form and a member of The Law Society panel of medical negligence experts will review your information and telephone you to discuss your claim at no charge and with no obligation.
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