What happens when medical tools are left inside the body?

Sometimes when surgeons are performing an operation, surgical tools are inadvertently left inside the body. These can be anything from scalpels to sutures to gauze. While the idea of a sharp knife being left inside you is worrisome, doctors are far more likely to miss a small piece of gauze or a suture than they are to miss a large item such as a knife. When a foreign object is left inside the body, the antibodies will attack it, and it will fester and become infected, which can lead to serious medical problems.

If you have been injured by a doctor’s negligence or error, contact the Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130.

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