Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY 11375; Division of Pediatric Surgery, Cohen Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY.
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, Uniondale, NY.
J Pediatr Surg. 2020 Apr;55(4):602-608. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2019.08.047. Epub 2019 Aug 31.
Malpractice litigation among pediatric surgeons is a subject of concern and interest, but minimal factual data are known. Our goal was to investigate national litigation trends regarding pediatric surgical conditions.
We queried WestlawNext database for malpractice cases involving pediatric (age ≤ 18) surgical conditions. Cases were included if they named a care provider or health center. We gathered data on diagnoses, procedures, care providers, allegations, location, and outcomes.
Our search revealed 4754 cases, and 170 met inclusion criteria. These ranged from 1965 to 2017 and represented 40 states. 110 cases involved a surgeon (41% pediatric surgeons). Appendicitis was the most common diagnosis identified. Cases frequently involved delayed/missed diagnoses or interventions (45.9%), technical concerns (35.9%), mortalities (26.5%), negligent perioperative care (23.6%), and informed consent concerns (4.7%). Technical complication was the most common allegation against surgeons (49.1%), and nonsurgeon cases typically involved a delayed/missed diagnosis (78.3%). 39% of cases resulted in favor of the defendant, 35% plaintiff, and 14% had a split verdict.
Litigation involving pediatric surgical conditions is diverse, but appendicitis and circumcision comprise almost a third of cases. A greater understanding of these trends can help steer efforts in quality and safety as well as guide improved communication with families.
N/A.
小儿外科医生的医疗事故诉讼是一个令人关注和感兴趣的话题，但人们知之甚少。我们的目标是调查小儿外科疾病的全国诉讼趋势。
我们在 WestlawNext 数据库中查询了涉及儿科（年龄≤18 岁）外科疾病的医疗事故案例。如果案例中提到了医疗服务提供者或医疗中心，则将其纳入研究。我们收集了有关诊断、手术、医疗服务提供者、指控、地点和结果的数据。
我们的搜索结果显示有 4754 例案例，其中 170 例符合纳入标准。这些案例的时间范围从 1965 年到 2017 年，涉及 40 个州。110 例涉及外科医生（41%为小儿外科医生）。阑尾炎是最常见的诊断。这些案例经常涉及延迟/漏诊或干预（45.9%）、技术问题（35.9%）、死亡率（26.5%）、围手术期护理疏忽（23.6%）和知情同意问题（4.7%）。技术并发症是针对外科医生的最常见指控（49.1%），而非外科医生的案例通常涉及延迟/漏诊（78.3%）。39%的案例对被告有利，35%的案例对原告有利，14%的案例存在分歧裁决。
涉及小儿外科疾病的诉讼多种多样，但阑尾炎和割礼占了近三分之一的案例。对这些趋势的更深入了解可以帮助指导质量和安全方面的努力，并指导与家属更好地沟通。
无。
