Patient who 'wasn't told' about risks to nose surgery hopes landmark UK case will spearhead change in Hong Kong

A patient whose nose was permanently damaged in an operation said his private surgeon failed to warn him about the risk of complications before carrying out the routine surgery.

Jacky Cheng, whose name has been changed for this article, said he first consulted a private doctor, complaining of a stuffy nose, and was advised to undergo surgery to remove an enlarged turbinate - one of several spongy bones that divide the nasal passages and maintain a steady flow of inhaled air.

"I did not plan to have surgery," said Cheng, 57. "But I trusted the doctor to be able to make better judgment than me."

The doctor did not explain to him what surgery was to be performed, how the procedure worked or whether there was any risk to the surgery, he added.

"Since it is a small operation, I asked the doctor a few questions about the wound and recovery time and whether it required general anaesthetic, but I could not think of anything else to ask at the time," Cheng said.

He underwent a procedure called septoplasty and endoscopic turbinoplasty in private at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital in Happy Valley in 2010.

Since the surgery, Cheng has been troubled continuously by a feeling of suffocation due to poor airflow in his nose and was twice sent to an accident and emergency unit after fainting.