Intensive care medicine

Medical practice

Neurosurgery

Surgery

Spinal surgery

Medical emergency

Tort reform

Political science

Malpractice

Medical malpractice

Tort

Liability

Medicine

General surgery

Neurosurgical FOCUS

Medical malpractice is an important but often underappreciated topic within neurosurgery, particularly for surgeons in the early phases of practice. The practice of spinal neurosurgery involves substantial risk for litigation, as both the natural history of the conditions being treated and the operations being performed almost always carry the risk of permanent damage to the spinal cord or nerve roots, a cardiopulmonary event, death, or other dire outcomes. In this review, the authors discuss important topics related to medical malpractice in spine surgery, including tort reform, trends and frequency of litigation claims in spine surgery, wrong-level and wrong-site surgery, catastrophic outcomes including spinal cord injury and death, and ethical considerations.

Medical malpractice in spine surgery: a review