A surgical nurse at a Texas hospital suffered an apparent debilitating back injury while preventing a patient from sliding off the OR table. Now she's suing the nurse anesthetist who accidentally tilted the table in the wrong direction.

During the January 2012 surgery, a surgeon asked Linda Sanders, CRNA, to raise the table's surface. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Sanders mistakenly pushed a button that caused the table to tilt away from Lynda Gore, RN, who struggled to hold the patient in place until Ms. Sanders could bring the table surface back to level.

Ms. Gore required a spinal fusion after the mishap and still hasn't returned to work, according to a source familiar with the matter. She blames Ms. Sanders for failing to familiarize herself with the table's control panel, failing to complete the requested patient repositioning and failing to warn the surgical team that she didn't know how the table worked.

She's suing Ms. Sanders and her employer, Mid County Anesthesia, for pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, physical impairment and lost wages related to the back injury.

Ms. Gore's attorney declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Ms. Sanders and Mid County Anesthesia could not be reached for comment.

Daniel Cook