Khon Kaen hospital denies surgical gauze left in abdomen caused death

By The Nation

 

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The director of Chum Phae Hospital in Khon Kaen has admitted that a surgeon there left a gauze bandage inside a patient’s abdomen during an operation but denied it contributed to the patient’s death.
 

Dr Kriangsak Watcharanukulkiart said on Tuesday that Ad Laiphukhiew, 53, had incurable kidney cancer and the operation was intended only to relieve his suffering.

 

Kriangsak was speaking to reporters the day after Ad’s sister, Boonthom Laiphukhiew, 43, brought the matter to the Khon Kaen complaints-receiving centre.

 

Boonthom alleged that a second operation was needed to remove the gauze, worsening Ad’s condition and forcing him to stay in the intensive care unit for the more than 10 days he had remaining to live.

 

But Kriangsak said Ad died two months after the second operation.

 

When Ad was first brought in for treatment, he was given three to five months to live. He had a large tumour in his abdomen and internal bleeding. The first operation was performed to reduce the size of the tumour and ease his pain.

 

When it was realised that gauze had been left inside the abdomen, the second operation was conducted to remove it and the family was paid Bt40,000 in compensation, Kriangsak said.

 

Fees were also waived for all treatment needed during the 13 days before the patient was discharged.

 

Kriangsak said the gauze mishap was not the cause of the death and the hospital would not pay a further Bt300,000 in compensation as demanded by the family.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30355244

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-26

Mistake's like this happen all over the world,as stated the man was terminal,i agree with the hospital not paying any more compo a blatant attempt by the family to get some easy money.

4 minutes ago, marko kok prong said:

Mistake's like this happen all over the world,as stated the man was terminal,i agree with the hospital not paying any more compo a blatant attempt by the family to get some easy money.

 

I wonder if you'd feel the same if it happened to your loved one?

 

May be easy money, or may be trying to send a message to the health care providers to make them more careful in the future.  When it may be one of our loved ones, and maybe not terminal (until they leave a rag inside)...

 

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I wonder if you'd feel the same if it happened to your loved one?

 

May be easy money, or may be trying to send a message the health care providers to make them more careful in the future.  When it may be one of our loved ones...

 

Nonsense,it was a mistake,the man was close to death anyway,and saying how would i feel if it happened to a loved one,well totally irrelevant to my post.

A troll post has been removed

Monty python couldnt script these stories any better

These types of incidents happen often in hospitals outside of Bangkok but it rarely is brought to the attention of foreigners because most families prefer not to prolong their grief by pursuing lawsuits after the death of a loved one.

When my father-in-law was in a coma and the staff insisted that he was better off in a general ward instead of ICU.  They said he would be better very soon so the family agreed. He went brain dead that night due to a lack of oxygen that would have been provided in ICU. 

When the staff discovered he was brain dead, they then placed him in ICU and refused to let any family or friends see him for hours apparently fearing liability. The family refused to take action yet the hospital still charged them for the ambulance service to return the body back home.  RIP

11 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Mistake's like this happen all over the world,as stated the man was terminal,i agree with the hospital not paying any more compo a blatant attempt by the family to get some easy money.

first of all i have to tell you i am happy you write "all over the world" and not start to write silly and annoying things like " only in Thailand"

But secondly i have to say, like others in this forum, a big mistake like this isn't normal at all. Even if he was terminal this can't happen !!!!!!!! That is not an excuse. So many peoples are "terminal" but still can have a great life for many years. Even longer any doctor can predict.

Therefore the hospital (doctor) is very wrong and they have to admid their mistake and pay the family (even this will never be  enough to compensate a real life) a compensation.

With reference to the Google Map, Chum Phae hospital is 85 kilometers to the west of KK on route 12.

Several years ago in the UK, they adopted the WHO checklist. After the implementation of the checklist it showed a much improved overall service.

 

 

Surgical checklist 'saves lives'

 

 

Using a simple surgical checklist during major operations can cut deaths by more than 40% and complications by more than a third, research has shown.

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has ordered all hospitals in England and Wales to use it across the board by February 2010.

The checklist, devised by the World Health Organization (WHO), was tested in eight cities around the glob

 

 

In Scotland, the use of checklists is already part of a drive to cut adverse events following surgery by 30%, and deaths following surgery by 15% by 2011.

 

7 hours ago, bprinceuk said:

In Scotland, the use of checklists is already part of a drive to cut adverse events following surgery by 30%, and deaths following surgery by 15% by 2011.

It's 2018 now. Has it worked?