With so many problems from botched surgeries you would think a patient would be able to request this.
In: Technology
Plenty of laparoscopic surgeries can be recorded. I take tons of photos during cases and occasionally video if it’s something interesting/cool. Plus many ORs have recording in the room during certain parts of the case (like the Time Out) to ensure facility compliance.
The reason that surgeries aren’t recorded as a standard of care likely owes to a combination of factors:
1. Data storage/maintenance
2. Difficulty recording — laparoscopic surgeries are easy but you can’t necessarily see a lot if you’re working an open case in the deep body spaces.
3. There’s no strong purpose. Medical malpractice has 2 components — deviation from standard of care **and** harm arising to the patient as a result of that deviation. Mistakes happen relatively commonly in the OR as surgeons are only human. These risks/complications should be disclosed to the patient as a part of informed consent in pre-op counseling. If the complications occur, you disclose them to the patient immediately after.
A good real world example of 3 is this: say I’m doing a gynecological surgery. The risks of this surgery include bleeding/hemorrhage, infection/abscess, and injury to the other pelvic organs. If I accidentally put a hole in the bowel, for example, and have a general surgeon come in to fix it and disclose it to the patient, this is just a risk of surgery. If I didn’t recognize the injury, or tried to repair it myself without the expertise of another surgeon, THEN I’d be getting into malpractice territory.
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