A civil engineer has been left with both arms in plaster after a surgeon operated on the wrong one. Simon Savage, 26, is considering suing the hospital where his healthy right arm was confused for his injured left limb. The medical mix-up happened despite arrows having been painted on him which pointed to the elbow requiring treatment. Mr Savage only realised what had happened when he came round from anaesthetic and noticed his right arm encased in plaster.
It had been intended to take tendon material from his right wrist and insert it into the painful left elbow. But during the operation at Rotherham District General Hospital tendon material was taken from his left wrist and transplanted into his right elbow. Mr Savage, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, may now face the rest of the year of work. He will have to wait several week for his previously healthy right arm to heal before returning to hospital for the procedure to be carried out on the correct arm.
Roger Jones, Rotherham Hospital Trust chief of surgery, said they were currently investigating “a serious incident” in which a patient underwent incorrect surgery. He said: “Such incidents are extremely rare and although not life threatening on this occasion, it is nevertheless, being taken extremely seriously. "A full examination of the circumstances has been mounted in order to understand why the many systems put into place to prevent such occurrences failed on this occasion.
Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Operation gone wrong
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Dominic
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4:39 PM
Labels: Europe, Unbelievable stories
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