Photo credit: Viktor Levi | Dreamstime.com

Such huge mistake rarely happens, and when it does it would surely result to epic failures, if not ultimate dangers. Medical workers at the Nairobi hospital in Kenya in East Africa accidentally switched identification tags on two patients, one of whom was scheduled to have a surgery to remove a clot in his head. The other patient only needed a minor treatment for brain swelling with no invasive surgery needed.

Doctors at Kenyatta Nation Hospital remained blissfully ignorant that they have already sawed open the wrong patient and only realize their humongous mistake when they failed to find a blood clot in his brain. The team was already two hours into the operation when they discovered the mix-up.

After consultation with a senior neurosurgeon, the operating doctor was instructed not to proceed with any surgery, clean up the area and simply “close the head” of the patient.

Local media reports say both patients were miraculously in good condition.

Authorities are investigating the matter and have suspended at least four hospital staffers including nurses, neurosurgeons and a CEO.

At least two doctors involved in the mix-up are mad about their suspensions, pinning the blame on nurses who prepared the patient for surgery.

The mix-up is being regarded by the local media as one of the worst cases of medical malpractice to become public at the said hospital. The horror mix-up also raises questions about pre-surgery procedures in Kenyan hospitals, especially in ensuring something so basic- that the right patient is operated on the right place.

The hospital’s CEO Lily Koros apologized for the mix-up. She said: “The hospital deeply regrets the event and has done all it can to ensure the safety and well-being of the patient in question."

The names of the patients had not been released pending hospital talks with their concerned families.

Source:

https://nypost.com/2018/03/02/doctors-in-kenya-perform-brain-surgery-on-wrong-patient/