Marshall L. Schwartz obtained a defense verdict in a Montgomery County case in which the plaintiff alleged negligence when his bladder was perforated by a surgeon performing a laparoscopic appendectomy. Plaintiff maintained that if the surgery had been done properly, his bladder would not have been injured. The defense maintained that the surgery was performed within the standard of care and that the injury occurred as a result of an anatomic variance. With the variance, the bladder was higher than would be expected after decompression with a foley catheter and when trocars were entered, one inadvertently caused the perforation. Bladder injury is an accepted risk of the procedure. After a four day trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of defendants after a short deliberation.
