The device that was removed was a surgical instrument known as an Alexis that stabilizes open wounds during caesarean sections
- author, Kelly Ng
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A surgical instrument the size of a plate was left inside a New Zealand woman’s stomach after she underwent a caesarean section at an Auckland hospital.
The medical device, known as Alexis, which is in the shape of a tube to stabilize open wounds during caesarean sections, remained in the patient’s abdomen for 18 months after the births.
During this period, the woman suffered from severe pain and visited many doctors until the surgical instrument was found after she underwent a CT scan.
Health officials said the public hospital system failed the patient. Initially, the Auckland District Health Board said they had failed to provide adequate medical care.
However, New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell disagreed with the findings of the report released on Monday.
McDowell said: “It is clear that the care provided was substandard, because the (surgical instrument) was not identified during any routine surgical examinations, which resulted in it being left inside the woman’s abdomen.”
She added, “The relevant staff has no explanation for how this instrument got into the abdominal cavity, or why it was not discovered before the operation was completed and the abdomen was closed.”
image source, Getty
The woman suffered severe pain after doctors at the hospital failed to extract the surgical instrument
The Alexis instrument is a large object made of clear plastic attached to two rings, and is usually removed after the uterine incision is closed during a cesarean section and before the skin is sutured.
New Zealand Health Commissioner Morag McDowell noted that this is the second time in two years that a device has been left in the abdomen of a patient in hospitals in the city of Auckland.
McDowell said the hospital should have put protocols in place to prevent the incident, which caused the woman a “prolonged period of distress.”
The woman, who is in her twenties, consulted her general practitioner “several times” during the 18 months that followed her birth in 2020. Not only that, but she went to the hospital’s emergency department on one occasion due to pain.
The commissioner said she was “disappointed”, given that the Auckland District Health Board had already breached the Patient Rights Act in 2018, after a piece of cloth was left in a woman’s stomach after surgery.
After that incident, the council said that it would require all surgical workers to adhere to a “counting policy,” which is supposed to ensure that staff involved in surgical operations are responsible for all devices and machines used during any surgical operation.
New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell said some surgeons, however, did not read the policy when performing the woman’s surgery.
Mike Shepherd, Director of Operations at the Auckland District Health Board, apologized to the affected woman, in a statement published by New Zealand media.
Shepherd said: “We have reviewed patient care regulations and this has improved our systems. This will reduce the chance of similar incidents occurring again.”
He added, “We would like to assure the public that such incidents are extremely rare, and we will remain confident in the quality of surgical health care as well as the health services we provide for maternity care.”
