Take The Baby, Leave The Device

A woman in New Zealand finally received an answer to why she’s been suffering from horrible pain in her abdomen since giving birth in 2020. She had a large medical device left inside of her.

Every patient who undergoes surgery has some concern that doctors will accidentally leave something small inside of them, but this wasn’t small. It was a wound retractor — a soft tubular device about the size of a dinner plate. It was used during her C-section and somehow left inside of her. For 18 months, the new mother dealt with crippling pain and had no idea why.

The device is described as opaque, so it was never discovered in an X-ray. But a CT scan was performed and that’s when it showed up. The health commission is reviewing the case and considering charges against the medical professionals involved. Oddly enough, this same thing has happened before in New Zealand. In 2021, a man had surgery for a perforated colon and was left with a wound retractor stuck inside. (NBC News)

I still remember this story from Australia back in 2004