Over 100 heart patients 'stitched up with expired thread' at Hong Kong hospital

More than 100 patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital were stitched up after heart surgery using thread past its expiry date because of an excess of stock and nurses failing to follow standard procedures.

That was the conclusion announced by the Yau Ma Tei hospital on Friday based on the findings of its two investigation panels.

Some 13 of the 104 patients affected died but none of the deaths was related to the expired stitches, the investigators found.

The blunder emerged at the cardiothoracic surgery department on July 3, when a report stated that polyester sutures with an expiry date of June last year had been used on patients who had heart surgery between July and December last year.

The thread was vacuum sealed and sterilised, according to the report.

Yesterday’s announcement blamed over-stocking and nursing staff who continued to use the expired batch when preparing for surgery, against normal practice.