Mary Ann Benitez
Monday, August 04, 2014
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The seven blunders in the first quarter this year were the most reported by public hospitals to the authority since 2010. It compared to five in the fourth quarter last year.
Other instruments left were a 12-centimeter silicon wound drain in the abdomen, a broken drill bit in the hip, a "stiffener stylet" that should have been removed before an intravenous catheter was inserted, and retained gauze and extra dressing material.
No patient or hospital is named in the report, which is issued quarterly for health-care professionals. No one died in the incidents.
In the newborn blunder, a fetal scalp electrode was attached directly to the unborn baby for monitoring.
The baby was delivered uneventfully and the electrode was removed by the midwife. About a month later, the baby was brought to an accident and emergency department for a swelling in the scalp - and the 0.5cm- diameter spiral electrode showed up on X-ray and was removed.
In the kidney-stone case, a catheter was inserted in a patient for temporary drainage in preparation for renal stone removal.
After removing most of the stones, the surgeon decided to remove the catheter but this met with resistance. The surgeon examined the removed catheter before discarding it, but an X-ray showed a 4.5cm broken cathete
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In separate incidents, the newsletter also reported on a 40-week pregnant woman who was induced into labor. She suffered cardiac arrest after delivery and died despite resuscitation efforts.
A post-mortem examination showed she suffered an amniotic fluid embolism.
Another patient, who was given steroids for acute bronchitis for at least 60 days, was admitted for severe pneumonia two months later. The patient died 11 days after admission.
And a woman was administered fine needle aspiration in her right, instead of left, breast.
