A look at acceptable vs unacceptable surgical complications

In the film, Rashomon, director Akira Kurosawa presents the theme that truth, in an individual’s experience and perception, is relative. The film tells the tale of a samurai and his wife, who are attacked by a bandit. The bandit kills the husband and then engages in sexual relations with the wife.

The story is told from three perspectives — wife, bandit and deceased husband (via a mystic). Each tale seems to be an objective version of the events.

Rashomon may be an excellent allegory for the conflicting views of what constitutes an act of professional negligence. Both surgeons and patients relate to an adverse surgical event in different, but seemingly “objective” ways. This is particularly true in orthopedic surgery, where the patient’s goal and expectation is to regain function.

When patients do not regain function, but rather become worse because of surgically related complications, they often perceive the orthopedic surgeon as negligent. Orthopedic surgeons, highly trained and possessing sophisticated skills are, in turn, likely to perceive intraoperative injuries as unavoidable and inherent risks of surgery.

Click here to read the full story in the July issue of Orthopedics Today.