Medical Malpractice for Endoscopy Complications

An endoscopy is a medical procedure that uses a scope, which is a long tube with a tiny camera mounted on the end, to explore inside a patient’s body. The physician inserts the scope into an opening in the patient’s body, and they can then watch the video feed that captures an up-close view in a monitor of the internal organs such as the esophagus, the stomach, the large intestines the abdominal cavity, the urinary system or the lungs.

In a report that is published periodically in the journal Gastroenterology – Burden of Gastrointestinal, Liver, and Pancreatic Diseases in the United States ­– researchers found that gastro-intestinal disease is highly prevalent in the United States. Gastroenterologists use endoscopy to diagnose such diseases as

• GI hemorrhage
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Clostridium dificile infection
• Chronic liver disease
• GERD
• IBS

Given that the procedure does not require an incision, endoscopy tends to be a safe, low risk procedure, but complications can occur both from the procedure and from the scope itself.

Complications from endoscopy

The type of doctor that performs endoscopy is usually a gastroenterologist. If the gastroenterologist uses an inferior technique when inserting the scope into either the esophagus or the stomach, the scope can cause tears in the structure.

If the patient is sedated before the endoscopy procedure, complications from the anesthetic might include:

• Allergy to the anesthesia
• Breathing problems
• Nausea

Additional complications of endoscopy include:

• Burning sensation where the scope was inserted
• Aspiration pneumonia
• Perforated organs
• Infection

Complications from the spread of bacteria on endoscopes

After an endoscope has been used to explore the interiors of the human body, it must be carefully cleaned and sterilized before being used on another patient to control the spread of bacteria and other pathogens. Unfortunately, some methods that hospitals have used to clean endoscopes has been insufficient to kill all the bacteria and remove the proteins and microorganisms that cling to the scope’s crevices. When the device is scrubbed, this can serve to spread the bacteria to a wider area, and create tiny grooves in the scope where organisms can live, reproduce and infect other patients.

In 2013, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found a link between the use of endoscopes and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received adverse event reports of bacterial infections from endoscope use. The FDA placed a temporary hold on approving applications for new endoscopes while it sent notices to healthcare providers recommending that they disclose the risk of infection to their patients undergoing endoscopy. The FDA is also evaluating sterilization methods to help reduce the risk of infection.

A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control suggests that even rigorous reprocessing practices may not be sufficient to ensure that endoscopes are free from disease-causing organisms before they are used on the next patient.

Lawsuits for endoscope infection

Patients who have suffered injuries after an endoscopy procedure have filed lawsuits against these and other companies that manufacture the scopes:

• Olympus America
• Fujifilm Medical Systems
• Hoya Corp. unit Pentax Life Care Division

Perforation injuries from endoscopy can be a result of a preventable medical error and they can cause extreme pain in the chest and abdomen area, shortness of breath, black and tarry stool and bloody vomit.

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