7 surgical tools accidentally left behind after surgery

Every year, 1,500 patients in the U.S. have surgical objects accidentally left inside them after surgery, according to The Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs in the country. Most of the RSI are sponges used to control patient bleeding during long operations. RSI can lead to pain, infections, and other medical complications.

1. Medical Glove Left Inside Body After Hysterectomy For 3 Days

A mother of six started to feel unwell after having a hysterectomy at the Royal Derby Hospital in the UK. Forty-two-year-old Sharon Birks felt ill for three days after her initial surgery led to an unlikely discovery when she went to the bathroom: a medical glove. “Then I felt something rubbery, and the next thing I know, I’m pulling out this great big surgeon’s glove — and there’s this blood gushing everywhere,” said Birks, the DailyMail reported.

Doctors originally suspected Birks to have an infection and prescribed antibiotics, remaining completely unware of the pain being caused by the latex glove inside her. Sue James, Derby’s hospitals trust chief executive apologized to Birks and has launched a detailed investigation. Birks kept wondering what would have happened if the glove had stayed inside her and the potential damage it could have caused. 

2. 7-Inch Forceps Left Inside Keyhole For 3 Months

A former nurse was left with 7-inch forceps inside her for three months after undergoing keyhole surgery to remove her gallbladder. Donna Bowett, a 42-year-old mother of four, was discharged from the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcestershire, in 2009 before a subsequent X-ray revealed she had the device inside her, Worcester News reported. The pair of forceps were sewn up inside her and felt like they were trying to “pull through her skin.”

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has apologized to the patient and paid her a six-figure settlement for her ongoing care and rehabilitation. The woman still suffers pain and has had to quit her role as a nurse. This “never event” has led hospitals to vigorously review surgical procedures. 

3. Two Towels Left Inside After Kidney Cancer Surgery For 3 Months

An Ohio man won a $275,000 settlement from the federal government after a surgery at a veterans hospital left him with two towels inside his body. Robert Sanner, a 47-year-old from New Philadelphia, made three trips back to the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland since his May 2008 kidney cancer surgery, according to CBS News, because something didn’t feel right. A scan in August 2008 revealed the man had two 14-by-11-inch towels in his body from his surgery in May.

VA hospital officials acknowledged the mistake. Ashley Trimble, the medical center spokeswoman, confirmed the incident is one of the reasons why the hospital adopted new technology to keep track of sponges and other surgical equipment. Sanner served as an Army mechanic in the 1980s. 

4. Surgical Sponge Left Inside Small Intestine For 4 Years

A woman has suffered the consequences of a medical mistake for four years after getting a standard hysterectomy and bladder-support surgery in 2007. Fifty-six-year-old Carol Critchfield suffered bouts of pain, nausea, and dehydration every morning after surgery. Critchfield went to the emergency room complaining of pain, but the hospital passed it off as severe constipation, CBS Los Angeles reported.

A year later, after feeling ill and faint, Critchfield called an ambulance, but they dismissed it as a gastrointestinal issue, told her not to eat any spicy food, and sent her on her way. After she began to bleed in spring of 2011, her gynecologist made a shocking discovery after removing her ovaries, suspecting an ovarian cyst. “It was a sponge that was left in, and it had become completely encased with scar tissue. So, they had to remove a large amount of my intestine,” Critchfield said.

5. Foot-Long Metal Tube Left Inside Abdomen For 5 Years

Doctors in the Czech Republic discovered a foot-long metal tube left inside a woman’s abdomen in February 2010. The painful metal tube was left in the woman’s body five months after surgery, The Associated Press reported. The chief of the clinic said four staff members had been punished for the medical malpractice. 

6. Scissors Left Inside For 12 Years After Life-Saving Surgery

A pair of surgical scissors were found inside a man in Kazakhstan after complaining of stomach pains for the last 12 years. Karp Ponomaryov, the 53-year-old man, underwent life-saving surgery more than a decade ago and has since then suffered intense stomach pains after eating large meals. It was only after Ponomaryov lost his appetite and started losing weight did he seek medical treatment and received a grim prognosis.

"I've never seen anything like this, maybe a surgical swab occasionally, but a huge piece of surgical equipment like that should have been missed or at least noticed sooner,” said Dr. Baurzhan Aybaev, who examined the X-ray, the Mirror reported. Ponomaryov’s surgeon, who retired three years ago, and has since died, forgot them in the patient’s body during a surgery 12 years ago. The victim needs another surgery to remove the scissors and is not looking to sue the hospital. 

7. 16 Objects Left Inside After Prostate Cancer Surgery

A patient in Germany unfortunately died after suffering the consequences of severe malpractice. Surgeons left up to 16 objects in 74-year-old Dirk Schroeder’s body after an operation for prostate cancer. According to the DailyMail, items included a needle, roll of bandages, compresses, and a bit of a surgical mask.

The incident happened in 2009 and Schroeder survived, but his cancer spread and he passed away in 2012. Schroeder’s family has since launched a lawsuit against the clinic. The hospital, which has not been named, claimed the items entered the man’s body “post-operative,” although they did not suggest how the man may have ingested them, including the needle. 

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