Tooth damage is the number one injury patients suffer from anesthesia, according to a new study in the Journal of Healthcare Risk Management.
The study was based on 607 anesthesia-related claims reported by The Doctors Company, the largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer in the nation. Tooth damage made up 20.8 percent of the claims.
Additionally, the study found nearly 80 percent of anesthesia technical performance claims were from complications explained to patients prior to the procedure — but patients who filed claims may not have understood enough to associate those risks with their injuries.
"The results of this study show how important it is for physicians to communicate with patients about the outcomes of their care and to link informed consent discussions with the complication that they experienced," said Richard Urman, MD, assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard University Medical School, staff anesthesiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and study co-author. "Patients may still be unhappy with the outcome, but they will have a better understanding of the cause of their injury and be less likely to incorrectly ascribe the injury to substandard care."
The study also suggested having a complete patient medical history and physical evaluation can help avoid complications.