Woman awarded £7,900 after surgical drain was stitched to her abdominal wall

A 40-year-old woman has been awarded £7,900 by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust after a surgical drain was stitched to her abdominal wall in error.

In January 2017, the claimant underwent a vaginal hysterectomy and anterior repair for recurrent genital tract prolapse.

Over the following days, her kidney function deteriorated significantly and a nephrostomy tube was inserted into the kidney to drain excess fluid. She was then discharged to allow the swelling from the hysterectomy to go down before inserting a stent.

In March 2017, the claimant returned to have the urethra re-implantation under general anaesthetic, A Redovac surgical drain was used. The following day the nephrostomy tube was removed without any complications.

Later that evening the nurse attended to the claimant to remove the drain, however she was unable to do this and the claimant became distressed. A doctor was called to assist with the removal, however the doctor was also unable to remove the drain and due to the claimant’s pain and distress, the procedure was abandoned.

The following day the claimant returned to the hospital for the drain to be removed, again it was without success. It was decided that the claimant would need to be under general anaesthetic for the drain to be removed.

After undergoing surgery to remove the drain the claimant was informed that there had been difficulty removing the drain because during her previous surgery the surgeon had sewn through the drain and stitched it to the abdominal wall in error.

After enduring several unsuccessful attempts at removing the drain with the associated  pain, suffering and distress that she endured, the claimant contacted Fletchers to bring a medical negligence claim against the Trust.

Her case was investigated by Amy Kirk, Senior Litigation Executive, and Stephanie Davies, Litigation Executive. The Trust made full admissions and settlement was reached in the sum of £7,900.

Stephanie said: “It was a pleasure to work for this lady who suffered avoidable pain, suffering and distress due to an avoidable surgical error.

“I hope that the compensation that the claimant has received will go towards helping her and her family move forward from the trauma and distressing ordeal.”