At some point, many of us have gone through the ordeal of having some surgical procedure performed on us. For most of us, it goes off without a hitch. We go home. We recover. We move on with our lives. Yet, a select few surgical patients went home a little heavier.
Surgical staff throughout the world have been known to inadvertently leave behind surgical items inside a patients body through the course of surgery. Surgeons have left behind everything from sponges to scissors. Many patients can go their whole lives not knowing there is a surgical tool inside them. Unfortunately, some patients develop infections and perish as a result.
It’s not known how many people are victims of this, but here is what we do know.
- The name for this mishap is known as – Retained Surgical Items’.
- The most common item left inside a patient is a sponge or gauze.
- A 2008 study revealed as much as 12.5% of surgeries result in a miscount of sponges and tools.
- People have died as a result of infection or punctured organs.
Tool counting and procedures are improving, and the frequency of occurrences are going down. Hopefully a day will come when our bodies aren’t inadvertently used as storage. Until that day comes, let us take a look at some of the more ridiculous items left behind during surgery.
Rusty surgical scissors left for 18 years inside patient
A 54 year old Vietnamese man was in the hospital after having been involved in a traffic accident. After a routine ultrasound, medical staff discovered a pair of scissors in the patient’s abdomen. During the 3 hour surgery to remove the item, they found the scissors both partially broken, and the rusty handles had become stuck to some nearby organs. The doctors surmised the scissors were left there by a previous surgical operation 18 years prior in 1998. Coincidentally, from another traffic accident.
Surgical sponges left in abdomen for at least 6 years
A 42 year old Japanese lady arrived at the hospital complaining of stomach discomfort. A CT scan revealed not one but two surgical sponges were sitting on either side of her pelvis. After removing the sponges, the doctors learned she had two previous cesarean sections (one 9 and the other 6 years prior).
Of all the items left inside of a patient, sponges and gauze account for over one-third. It’s so common, there is a name for leaving a sponge behind after surgery – gossypiboma. Latin: gossypium meaning ‘cotton wool’ and oma meaning ‘tumor’. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it?
French woman gives ‘birth’ to surgical gloves and five compresses
A 48 year old French woman scheduled a procedure to stop menstruation that would be less invasive than a hysterectomy. For days after, she complained of pain, difficulty sleeping and hard to urinate. She assumed it was linked to the operation, and it would eventually go away. She stated, “After three days of atrocious pain in the lower stomach, I started having extremely strong contractions and finally expelled a glove and five compresses,”. She had complications such as a urinary tract infection as a result. The proud mother of 6 surgical items filed a lawsuit against the doctor.
Scalpel left inside man for four years
In 2013, an Army veteran had prostate removal surgery at a VA hospital after a cancer diagnosis. After the surgery, he complained of pains, but assumed it was related to the operation. However, this pain did not subside. Finally, after four years of dizziness and abdominal pains, doctors discovered he had a scalpel inside of him and needed immediate surgery to remove it. During surgery, the scalpel was found between his bladder and rectal area. He made a full recovery and filed a lawsuit against the VA.
Another scalpel???
UK resident Victor Hutchison went into a heart bypass operation back in 2003. The surgery was a success with the exception of a missing scalpel. Doctors and staff spent an hour looking for the object. Mr. Hutchison was given a chest x-ray, but found nothing. He was discharged. Three months later he was admitted to another hospital to examine his gallbladder. The scalpel was discovered in a x-ray of the area. Apparently it had lodged further down close to his spine. Rather than extracting the scalpel, the doctors decided it would be safer to leave it inside Mr. Hutchison. He died two years later from unrelated causes.
13 inch retractor
In 2000, a Seattle native went to have a surgery to remove a tumor. As is the norm, he went through extreme bouts of pain. He was quoted as saying he felt like he was slowly dying. An x-ray quickly revealed he had a 13 in retractor still inside his body. Most objects left behind are small or unnoticeable like blood-soaked sponges or suture needles. This thing was huge.
After ‘retracting the retractor’, the patient made a full recovery without any permanent damage.
Surgeons left 16 different objects in patient
Let’s take a second to appreciate the magnitude the title suggests. How can medical professionals screw up so badly they turn their patient into a walking toolbox?
Well, it all started in 2009. Dirk Schroeder, 74 year old German man, went into the hospital to receive routine surgery for prostate cancer. After the surgery, Mr. Schroeder complained of agonizing pain. He returned to the hospital after a home nurse discovered a gauze pad protruding from his surgical wound. The hospital discovered he had 16 (SIXTEEN) surgical items inside his body. Reportedly, it took two operations to remove all of them. Mr. Schroeder survived all of this, but died in 2012 of complications from cancer.
According to the lawyer representing the family, the hospital claimed the instruments may have entered his body post-operation and originally offered Schroeder only about $660 in compensation. Regardless, here are the items found in Mr. Schroeder according to The Daily Mail.
- A needle
- A six-inch roll of bandage
- A six-inch long compress
- Several swabs
- A surgical mask
Medical errors happen more than you think. All you need is Google to view more stories and news articles related to this. There are countless. Some people unfortunately perish as a result. I’ve chosen not to include the the incidences where the outcome is death.
In defense of the medical system, they are working hard to minimize these occurrences. Next time you go for a surgical procedure, perhaps you can politely request your surgeon not to use your body as storage.
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