Hong Kong surgeon misidentified organs in fatal blunder, hospital probe finds
Report links 85-year-old woman’s death to surgical error, diagnostic bias, poor monitoring and delayed intervention, prompting calls for surgeon’s dismissal
A Hong Kong surgeon who operated on the wrong organ of an elderly patient had shown “confirmation bias” in identifying structures in the abdominal cavity, an investigation into the blunder has found, prompting a former lawmaker to call for his dismissal.
Tseung Kwan O Hospital on Thursday released a cause analysis report on the February 7 incident involving an 85-year-old woman with obstructive sigmoid colon cancer, who died three weeks after the operation.
She had undergone what was intended to be a transverse colostomy to relieve an intestinal blockage, a procedure that involves creating a surgical opening in the abdomen, known as a stoma.
Although her vital signs remained stable, doctors noted unusually high stromal output.
On March 1, she developed hypotension and tachycardia and was transferred back to Tseung Kwan O Hospital from Haven of Hope Hospital the following day.
A CAT scan showed that the stoma had been created in the stomach rather than the colon.
Her condition deteriorated and she died on March 3 after her family agreed to a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order.