I was performing surgery on a patient to remove his kidney.
The patient had already undergone several surgeries on his kidney, but it was no longer working and had become a constant source of infection.
The patient wanted me to remove it.
I did the surgery laparoscopically and decided to open the kidney to check inside.
What I found shocked me.
Inside the kidney was a broken laser fiber that had been left there from a surgery 18 years ago. This was from another surgeon, and it had been causing infections ever since.
After the surgery, I told the patient what I found, and he immediately knew who the surgeon had been.
It’s very sad that this happened, with the patient’s kidney being damaged and his life affected because of a careless mistake made by a surgeon who didn’t follow proper ethical guidelines.
The original surgeon could have referred the patient to someone else for help before the damage got so bad.
