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Surgical Mistakes

The x-rays and case summaries on this page are from New York medical malpractice lawsuits where surgical equipment was inadvertently left inside the patient at the close of surgery.

Retained sponges/lap pads and other instruments can result in serious conditions including sepsis, intestinal obstruction, fistula or abscess formation and adhesions. A secondary surgical procedure is often required for removal of the retained foreign object, often times with extended hospitalization to fight infection. This is a “never, ever” type of event since the surgical team is supposed to count all instruments and pads at the beginning of surgery and again at the end, to avoid this very problem.

X-ray of a retained clamp that the surgical team forgot to remove
X-ray of a retained clamp that the surgical team forgot to remove

X-ray of a surgical scissor blade that broke off that the surgical team didn’t notice.
X-ray of a surgical scissor blade that broke off that the surgical team didn’t notice.

Surgical sponge that was left in a patient, identified by the radio-opaque thread inside the sponge.
Surgical sponge that was left in a patient, identified by the radio-opaque thread inside the sponge.

X-ray of a retained clamp that the surgical team forgot to remove.
X-ray of a retained clamp that the surgical team forgot to remove.

Retained laparotomy pad, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, 1998.
Retained laparotomy pad, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, 1998. ‡

Retained laparotomy pad, Jacobi Hospital, Bronx, New York, 1996
Retained laparotomy pad, Jacobi Hospital, Bronx, New York, 1996

‡ This is a pad made from several layers of gauze folded into a rectangular shape and used especially as a sponge for packing off the viscera in abdominal operations. It is identifiable on x-ray by the radio-opaque material that it uses.

Summaries of cases with “retained” surgical equipment can be found here:

975K – Manhattan – surgical drain left behind
Surgical drain negligently left in the knee of a 79-year old New York woman after a total knee replacement, resulting in infection, multiple surgeries and fusion of the knee.

450K – Surgical pad negligently left in New York woman
80-year old woman had bowel surgery, with “retained” pad, resulting in infection, ICU care, temporary tracheotomy and severe weakening of an already fragile condition.

175K – Surgical sponge left at NYU University Medical Center
72-year old New York woman ha bypass surgery, with sponge left behind, necessitating additional surgery to remove it

100K – Broken scissor blade left in a Bronx patient
Discovered many years after a hysterectomy at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, when precautionary x-rays taken after being sideswiped by a car.

125K – Bronx Woman discovers laparotomy left behind after Cesarean section
38-year-old Bronx woman discovers pad left in her abdomen while atJacobi Hospital, discovered two years later.

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