Spine-related neurosurgery medical disputes are twice as many as brain-related ones

The Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency (K-MEDI) has analyzed neurosurgery medical disputes settled from 2012 to 2024 and found that the number of spine-related disputes was approximately twice as high as those related to the brain.

The agency announced this in its Medical Accident Prevention (MAP) newsletter, which provides the public and medical professionals with information on medical accident prevention, including neurosurgery.

In the recently published newsletter, the arbitration center analyzed the types of medical accidents in 1,421 neurosurgical medical disputes mediated from 2012 to 2024. It introduced major medical dispute cases, as well as implications for prevention.

According to the report, neurosurgical medical disputes were dominated by spine-related ones, with 938 cases, accounting for 66.0 percent. This was followed by brain-related cases, which totaled 457 cases (32.2 percent), about twice as few as spine cases.

Among neurosurgery medical disputes, the most common type of medical procedure was “surgery and procedure” with 993 cases, accounting for 69.8 percent. In terms of treatment outcomes, “death” totaled 362 cases, accounting for 25.5 percent, followed by “disability” with 311 cases, accounting for 21.9 percent.

Professor Cho Yong-jun of Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, said in this regard that it is essential to establish and implement a detailed and accurate diagnosis and standardized treatment plan to prevent neurosurgical medical disputes and reduce the incidence of disability following accidents.

K-MEDI President Park Eun-soo said, “We hope that this newsletter on neurosurgical medical dispute cases will help prevent medical accidents and establish a safe medical environment.”

K-MEDI will continue to prioritize the health and safety of the public and strive to strengthen its expertise and fairness in resolving medical disputes, Park added.