Later, the orthopod was irritated that I did an investigation. He said that this was a known' complication of back surgeries. I asked nurses to report all incidental' lacerations. Note the euphemistic ring to the term incidental'. Accidental' is more like it.
Lacerations are most common in abdominal surgery, though they can occur in virtually any surgery.
Nurses did report these incidents. But after medical staff departments started receiving monthly summaries, there was a reaction. So they ultimately forced nurses to stop reporting them. Data about MD's is generated in the Medical Staff Peer Review Process and is protected by statute in their personal files in the Medical Staff Office. In this case, since the vascular surgeon billed separately, he probably did.