Anaesthetic awareness
25/10/2007
The need for medical negligence solicitors
When we go to a hospital to have an operation, the horror of waking up in the middle of an operation is one of the last things we expect. This phenomenon is known as anaesthetic awareness, and anyone who experiences it may wish to contact a medical negligence solicitor in order to claim compensation.
Anaesthetic awareness is surprisingly common. While only a very small proportion of operations result in anaesthetic awareness, when you consider that surgeons perform millions of operations in Britain each year, hundreds if not thousands experience the traumas associated with it.
The worst kind of anaesthetic awareness, and the kind most likely to lead to the employment of a medical negligence solicitor, is when a patient has been given too little anaesthetic in conjunction with a high dose of muscle relaxant.
In such cases the patient wakes up mid-operation but finds they are unable to move or speak to alert medical staff to their conscious state.
Women are more likely than men to contact a medical negligence solicitor to claim compensation for the traumas of anaesthetic awareness. One reason for this is the relatively high incidence of anaesthetic awareness in both gynaecological operations and caesarean sections.
Studies into the phenomenon have shown that there are various causes of anaesthetic awareness. Faulty anaesthetising technique is the most common of these, accounting for around 70% of all cases. The next most common is failure of staff to check anaesthetic equipment, cited as the cause of 20% of all cases. Technical problems with equipment and the taking of calculated risks accounts for the remaining 10%.
The traumatic effects of anaesthetic awareness
The trauma experienced during the operation itself is deeply distressing to affected patients.
Those who have experienced anaesthetic awareness speak of the "unimaginable pain" of being awake to experience the blades, scalpels and sutures of surgery.
As discussed earlier, when a patient is given muscle relaxants but not enough anaesthetic, he or she will experience general paralysis. Fully awake but unable to communicate their waking state to surgeons, the patient may suffer permanent psychological trauma as a result of this kind of medical negligence.
Compensation amounts for anaesthetic awareness
Alan Aitkenhead, head of anaesthetics at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, says that typical compensation amounts obtained by medical negligence solicitors for clients who've suffered anaesthetic awareness are usually in the region of £15,000.
However, in cases where anaesthetic awareness has caused extreme distress, it is not unheard of for medical negligence solicitors to secure their clients significantly larger compensation awards.
Making a medical negligence compensation claim
If you have suffered the trauma of anaesthetic awareness or, indeed, any other kind of medical negligence, you may be entitled to claim compensation.
Our medical negligence solicitors are specialists in the field and are widely recognised as being among the best in the UK.
Their services are available to you at absolutely no cost. Win or lose, we guarantee that you will not have to pay either us or the opposing side a single penny in legal costs or fees.
In addition, we also guarantee that we will never take a cut of your hard won compensation, assuring you 100% of all money awarded you.
So why not get in contact with us today?
You can fill out an online claims form, request we call you back at a convenient time or discuss your claim on e-chat.
Alternatively, if you wish to speak to a skilled legal advisor now, call 0800 10 757 95 and we will find the right medical negligence solicitor for you.
