Woman Discovers Doctors Left Device "Size of Dinner Plate" Inside Her During Delivery 18 Months Ago -

Auckland City Hospital is making global headlines for all the wrong reasons after medics from the facility were found culpable of medical negligence
This is after it was discovered that its doctors forgot a surgical instrument called an Alexis retractor (AWR) inside a woman they helped deliver through Caesarian Section
The discovery was made after the young woman who had endured 18 months of pain had an abdominal CT scan to find out what was happening

After suffering excruciating pain for a whole 18 months after undergoing a caesarean section, a woman was shocked to learn that doctors forgot a foreign object inside her.

BBC News records that the surgical instrument, named an Alexis retractor or AWR, is the size of a dinner plate and had been living inside her abdomen.

Breach of patient's code

This error led to the woman suffering chronic abdominal pain for one and a half years before the discovery was made during an abdominal CT scan.

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The mistake came to light when the young woman in her 20s sought medical attention when the pain became unbearable.

Investigations into the case unearthed a horrifying reality; the instrument was left inside the New Zealand mother after she delivered at Auckland City Hospital.

It was eventually removed from her abdomen in 2021, ending her unprecedented visits to different hospitals due to pain, The Guardian adds.

Hospital apologised for error

Incidentally, a surgeon, a senior registrar, an instrument nurse, three circulating nurses, two anaesthetists, two anaesthetic technicians and a theatre midwife were all in the theatre when the error occurred.

In the wake of the discovery, the Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell accused the facility of breaching the code of patient rights.

“There is substantial precedent to infer that when a foreign object is left inside a patient during an operation, the care fell below the appropriate standard,” he said, calling it a ‘never’ event.”

The hospital apologised to the affected woman, adding that the case has resulted in improvements to their systems and processes, which will reduce the chance of such reoccurring.

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