A surgical tool the size of a dinner plate was left in a women’s abdomen for 18 months following a Caesarean section at Auckland City Hospital.
On Monday, New Zealand Health and Disability Commissioner Morag McDowell found that Auckland District Health Board (now Te Whatu Ora Te Toka Tumai Auckland) breached the patient’s rights after a surgical instrument was left inside her following a procedure.
Following the C-section in 2020, the woman in her 20s went to her GP several times after experiencing severe pains in her abdomen.
After visiting the emergency department at Auckland Hospital, the instrument was discovered using an abdominal CT scan.
The instrument was an Alexis Wound Retractor (AWR), which is about the size of a dinner plate and used for holding open a surgical wound. AWR’s cannot be detected on X-Ray.
“I have little difficulty concluding that the retention of a surgical instrument in a person’s body falls well below the expected standard of care,” McDowell said.
