Kozhikode Medical College has also ordered an inquiry. (Representative)
Kozhikode, Kerala:
A 30-year-old woman has filed a complaint against doctors for leaving forceps inside her body during a caesarean operation five years ago.
Kerala State Health Minister Veena George, acting on her complaint, on Saturday ordered an inquiry into the incident and asked the Health Secretary to submit a report soon.
Kozhikode Medical College doctors on September 17 performed a major surgery on Harshinia, a Kozhikode resident, to remove the ‘mosquito artery forceps’ in her abdomen from the last five years.
Forceps are a scissor-like instrument that surgeons use to clamp bleeding vessels during surgery.
“Strict action will be taken against those responsible,” the minister said in a statement.
The woman had her third caesarean section in November 2017 at the Kozhikode Medical College. The first two were in private hospitals, she said.
He told reporters, “After the third surgery, I started having severe pain. I thought it was due to caesarean surgery. I contacted several doctors. I thought either I had kidney stones or some kind of cancer “
Harshina said that the pain had subsided with the use of strong antibiotics but it had become unbearable for the past six months as she was suffering from urinary infection.
“Apparently, the metal object was pressing on my bladder and causing an infection. The pain became unbearable,” she said.
After the scan, doctors at a private hospital suspected that it was a kidney stone.
“But after the CT scan, they told me I had a metal object in my abdomen. They told me it was poking my bladder and resulting in a urinary infection. The doctor gave me heavy antibiotics to ease the pain. would give,” she said.
Later she reached the Government Medical College here and the doctors there took the forceps after the surgery.
Meanwhile, Kozhikode Medical College has also ordered a probe.
“We have ordered a probe. After preliminary investigation, the medical college superintendent told me that none of his surgical instruments were missing.
The woman had undergone two surgeries in private hospitals before coming to the medical college.”
After surgery to remove the surgical instruments that had been in her abdomen for the past five years, she was discharged in a few days.
Later, she approached the state health minister and Kozhikode Medical College and lodged a complaint in this regard.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)