Professional Goof: Neurosurgeon opens wrong patient’s brain in Kenya
There was a horrific mix-up at the Kenyatta National Hospital last Sunday, as a neurosurgeon mistakenly opened the head of a wrong patient for surgery.
Kenyan Nation gathered that two unconscious patients had been wheeled into the hospital, with one needing a removal of blood clot in his brain and the other only requiring nursing and medication to heal a trauma swelling in his head.
The wrong patient was wheeled into the theatre for the doctor to operate on.
It wasn’t until hours after, before the doctors discovered there was no blood clot in the brain of the man lying unconscious on the operating table.
Reports say the neurosurgeon, the ward nurse, theatre receiving nurse, and the anaesthetist all involved in the operation were all suspended.
The hospital’s chief operating officer, Lily Koros, said in a statement: “The management has suspended the admission rights of a neurosurgery registrar and issued him with a show-cause letter for apparently operating on the wrong patient.”
Miraculously, both patients were said to be in good condition and the patient who originally had a clot might not be needing surgery after all.
The case is described as one of the worst cases of medical malpractice to come to public notice.
