Invisible medical errors

Before I got banned from Quora, I wrote an answer explaining how ignorance of anatomy precludes identification of medical errors and learning from mistakes.

This explanation wasn’t in an answer about labiaplasty or any other type of genital surgery, which I typically write about. It was in an answer about risks of tummy tucks.

In working on a study with my dad, a plastic surgeon, something unexpected came up. He became concerned about damage to clitoral nerves potentially occurring during tummy tucks.

I was somewhat annoyed by his concern, as it became a focus in our study. Both him and the residents wanted to measure and describe the suspensory ligament of the clitoris for this reason. It’s essentially a landmark surgeons can use to avoid damage to nerves.

Clitoral damage isn’t a recognized risk of tummy tucks. I mentioned this in my answer on Quora. I went on to explain that if this was occurring, patients would be getting gaslighted and told, “that can’t happen,” as with clitoral nerve damage during vulvar cosmetic procedures.

And sure enough, in response, a follower sent a link to RealSelf, where women were talking about loss of sexual function. And sure enough, doctors were telling them it was all in their heads.

There’s a lot to be said here. Where there is ignorance of anatomy, the following issues persist.

• Care to avoid damage isn’t taken.
• Errors don’t get diagnosed or recognized.