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In addition to the generally
anticipated risks of any surgery, such as bleeding,
infection and anesthetic problems, surgery in obstetrics
and gynecology has the potential for many complications
unique to this area of medicine. Due to the close
proximity of the female genital organs to the bowel and
urinary tract, gynecological and obstetrical surgery
poses a risk for intra-operative injury to the bowel,
bladder and ureters as well as the major pelvic blood
vessels. Should such an injury be identified during
surgery, the necessary steps to repair the injury will
prolong the anesthetic time and also the patient's
recovery. When such injuries are identified
post-operatively, management often involves further
surgery to correct the defect.
The anatomy of the pelvic structures
may be modified or distorted by the patient's disease
thus markedly increasing the potential for vascular,
bowel or urinary tract injury. This is especially seen
in conditions such as pelvic cancer, endometriosis or
pelvic adhesions.
Today, with advances in hormonal and
drug treatments and increasingly less invasive
diagnostic and surgical procedures, the potential risk
of severe complications of obstetrical and gynecological
surgery should be lessened. Many factors, including the
choice of therapy or surgical procedure and the
patient's underlying medical condition, will affect the
outcome of surgery. All cases of adverse results
following ob/gyn surgery should be reviewed by an expert
in female reproductive surgery to determine whether
evidence of medical negligence exists or merely that an
unfortunate and unavoidable event occurred leading to a
less than optimal outcome.
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