In researching patient safety stories, I find myself reading/interpreting the complication statistics in a certain way; that is (I think) most people go for a procedure and are told “Well, there’s a 2% chance of this complication, 3-5% that that might happen, a 4% chance of another complication, etc.
You walk out of the doctor’s office thinking that total risk is 3-5%. But aren’t the risks cumulative in a sense? In the example below, don’t all those individual risks add up?
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Question for you folks:
In researching patient safety stories, I find myself reading/interpreting the complication statistics in a certain way; that is (I think) most people go for a procedure and are told “Well, there’s a 2% chance of this complication, 3-5% that that might happen, a 4% chance of another complication, etc.
You walk out of the doctor’s office thinking that total risk is 3-5%. But aren’t the risks cumulative in a sense? In the example below, don’t all those individual risks add up?
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Common complications of Gastric Banding http://eradiology.bidmc.harvard.edu/LearningLab/gastro/Selby.pdf
Stomal Stenosis ……….. 8-11%
Band Misplacement………. 2-3%
Band Slippage …………. 2-13%
Pouch Dilation ………… 3-8%
Band Erosion in Stomach … 3%
Port Rotation …………. 1-5%
Tube Disconnect/Leak …… 1-5%
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Does my question make sense?
Thanks,
Dan Walter