Iatrogeen

Iatrogeen, or iatrogenic in English, refers to any condition or harm caused by medical care or intervention rather than by the underlying disease. The term comes from Greek iatros "physician" and genes "produced" or "generated," and it is used to describe adverse outcomes that result from diagnosis, treatment, or care activities.

Examples include adverse drug reactions and dosing errors, surgical or anesthesia-related injuries, imaging-related radiation effects, hospital-acquired infections, diagnostic or therapeutic procedures that cause complications, and unnecessary interventions that cause harm. Iatrogenic conditions can arise from both errors and from the inherent risks of beneficial treatments.

Iatrogenesis is distinct from disease progression and from spontaneous complications. It is not necessarily tied to negligence; many events result from standard medical practice. It often overlaps with nosocomial or hospital-acquired conditions when care processes introduce risk.

Prevalence varies by setting and population. Risk factors include advanced age, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, invasive procedures, prolonged hospital stays, and complex diagnostic workups. Some iatrogenic harms are predictable and preventable with best practices, while others are rare and unavoidable despite proper care.

Prevention emphasizes prudent use of interventions, precise prescribing, appropriate monitoring, adherence to evidence-based guidelines, informed consent, and robust patient-safety systems. Reporting adverse events and learning from them are essential to reduce iatrogenesis and to balance the benefits and harms of medical care.