Woman finds surgical scissors inside of her 18 months after surgery
Patient Safety Monitor Alert, April 21, 2004
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A Sydney (Australia) woman is suing a local hospital after discovering that surgeons left a pair of scissors in her abdomen after an operation 18 months ago.
Pat Skinner, 69, had part of her colon removed at Sydney's St. George Hospital and received a clean bill of health from her doctors following the surgery. But for 18 months after the operation, Skinner consistently experience bad stomach and back pain that doctors told her was normal following that procedure.
Doctors finally ordered an x-ray and found a 6.8-inch pair of surgical scissors in her stomach.
"I was just devastated. I could not believe what I was seeing, it was like a nightmare seeing those scissors up on the screen," she was quoted as saying in an April 20 Agence France-Presse report.
The hospital apologized, but Skinner still plans to sue for damages, according to the report. St. George's Chief Executive Officer David Pearce said the hospital has since modified surgery guidelines and now requires staff to complete a full inventory of all surgical items.
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