By Ken Thomas, medical negligence specialist at Harding Evans
Solicitors
Varicose vein surgery would, to most of us, seem to be fairly
routine. Indeed, it is one of the most common forms of surgery in
this country. Some sources suggest up to 100,000 such procedures are
performed in the UK every year. Interestingly, there are some
regional variations. In 2002/3 there were relatively more varicose
vein operations carried out in Wales than in England, and even more
again in Scotland.
Of course, most such procedures are carried out without complication
and to the satisfaction of the patient. Nevertheless, things can
still go wrong as a recent study has shown.
The most frequent cause of negligence claims following varicose vein
surgery is nerve damage. This can clearly occur given there are so
many different nerves in the leg. Such damage can be due to careless
dissection when one or more of the major nerves are cut or bruised
by the operating surgeon.
Damage to the arteries or veins themselves can also occur. For
instance, there are reported instances of the femoral artery (the
main vessel to the leg) being damaged. Wound complications and DVT
have also given rise to claims after varicose vein surgery.
Of note, the authors of the report mentioned above concluded that
the same mistakes were being made repeatedly and suggested that
declining knowledge of poor anatomy may, in part, be a root cause of
errors. Given the waiting lists for varicose vein surgery, it is
suggested that sometimes the operations are performed by surgeons
without specialist experience in this form of operation.
Where the operation is not properly performed, there can, in extreme
cases, be severe knock on effects which can mean a risk of the
patient losing a limb or even their life.
As with any surgery, inevitably there will be a complication rate
irrespective of any mistakes on the part of the clinicians, for
instance, infection. The amount paid over in damages in the cases
analysed obviously varies, the highest coming in at just over half a
million pounds.
Varicose vein surgery, whether properly performed or not, costs the
NHS millions of pounds every year. In some quarters there have been
calls for the amount of such surgery to be limited on the basis that
some patients are undergoing varicose vein surgery where it is not
really necessary. A few years back, one NHS Trust cut back on these
operations as a cost cutting measure, especially those undertaken
for purely cosmetic reasons.
