Vasai doctors remove gauze from woman’s abdomen 40 days after C-section

A piece of gauze (3”x2”), used during surgeries to absorb blood, was removed from a 33-year-old woman’s abdomen on Saturday at a civic hospital in Vasai.

The piece was left inside the woman’s abdomen by a surgeon of the same hospital who performed a caesarean section (C-section) on her in April.

Though the hospital admitted to removing the gauze, they were “unaware” of its presence during C-section.

The woman’s husband has filed a complaint at Tulinj police station and demanded that a case of negligence be filed against the surgeon who forgot to remove the gauze.

Dr Gaytri Gorakh, in-charge of the civic hospital, said the gauze was removed from the patient 40 days after she delivered.

But she said they were unaware about how it was left inside the patient’s abdomen.

When asked whether action would be taken against the surgeon for negligence, she refused to comment.

Shama Shaik, a resident of Samelpada, Nalla Sopara (East), delivered her first child in the civic hospital at Tulinj on 27 April.

However, in the first week of June, she started experiencing severe abdominal pain. A strange odour also started emanating from her abdominal area.

“We conducted a sonography test at a private hospital where it was detected that the gauze pad was inside her abdomen,” said Shama’s husband, Shabbir, 33, who sells undergarments from a roadside stall.

“I contacted the civic hospital and they admitted Shama. On June 9, the surgeons removed the gauze pad,” said Shabbir.

Shabbir has complained to the Tulinj police demanding a case be registered against the civic surgeon for negligence and he is planning to move the consumer court in Thane for justice.

According to a medical expert, such errors can go undetected for years — depending on the immunity of the patient and if they cause no problem.

As a gauze is a sterile absorbent material, it cannot be excreted and remains inside the abdomen for years.

“Such [gauze] strips can only be detected through x-rays or sonography,” the expert said.