Japanese patient’s tumor, only a towel? (Mag-ingat sa mga absent minded na surgeons)

(AFP file photo: surgeons performing an operation)

It is unthinkable to find a 25-year-old towel inside a patient’s body. But it’s true; Japanese doctors removed a 25-year-old surgical towel (which was earlier thought to be a tumor) from the patient’s abdomen. Tsk, tsk, another case of medical malpractice?

Japanese patient’s ‘tumour’ turns out to be 25-year-old towel

TOKYO (AFP) – Doctors who carried out surgery on a Japanese man to remove a “tumour” had good news and bad news for him. He did not have cancer — but the “growth” that had been causing him pain was in fact a 25-year-old surgical towel.

The patient had been carrying the cloth since 1983, when surgeons at the Asahi General Hospital in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo left it in him after an operation to treat an ulcer, a spokesman for the hospital said.

The man, now 49, went in to another hospital in late May after suffering abdominal pain.

When examinations found what was believed to be an eight-centimetre (3.2-inch) tumour, he underwent the operation to remove it. It was only then that surgeons realised it was a towel.

“The towel was greenish blue although we are not sure about its original colour,” the Asahi General Hospital spokesman said, adding it had been crumpled to the size of a softball.

Asahi hospital officials visited the man and apologised, he said.

The former patient has no plans to sue the hospital, which is in talks with him over compensation or other measures, the official said.

Japanese media reports said the man, who was not identified, still had his spleen removed.

Tsk, tsk, mag-ingat kayo sa mga ulyaning surgeons

Kamakailan lang ay may napabalita na namang kontrobersiya tungkol sa mga doktor at nurses na nagtatawanan habang tinatanggal ang isang canister bottle na ipinasak sa rectum ng isang bading. Ayaw ko sanang maniwal dahil hindi ito pangkaraniwang gawain ng mga doktor at nurses. Ito’y isang uri nang pambabastos at paglapastangan sa karapatang pantao ng isang pasyente. Sa tutoo lang napakaraming kaso ng medical malpractice na nangyayari sa ngayon. Sa tutoo lang mas marami pa sa mga nababalitaan natin mula sa media.

Ngunit hindi lang sa Pilipinas ito nangyayari, nangyayari din sa ibang bansa. Kagaya nitong pasyenteng Hapon na una nang naoperahan upang gamotin ang kanyang ulcer; sa kasamaang palad ay may naiwang surgical towel sa katawan ng biktima. Pagkaraan ng 25-taon ay inoperahan na naman siya upang tanggalin ang tuwalya. Napakasakit naman itong kapalaran ni manong Sintaro (hindi niya tunay na pangalan), akala nila pinagpapawisan siya sa loob ng tiyan kaya binigyan siya ng tuwalya na pamunas, he-he-he. Kayo kaya manong, manang, lolo at lola, ang maiwanan naman ng forceps sa loob ng tiyan? Aray ko po, mga ulyaning doktor kayo…

Mabuti na lang hanggan tule lang si Doc. Bobonyo, ang doktor na walang sinasabi. Walang sinasabing malaking pagkakagastosan ng isang pasyente. Pero puwera biro, kailangang pag-ingatan po natin ang ating mga katawan at panatiliing malakas a malusog ito. Kung hindi payayamanin po ninyo ang doktor. There is nothing like an ounce of prevention.

Avoid too much alcohol and smoking, take moderate sugar, drink plenty of water everyday, eat balanced diet and do a lot of exercise. Dapat lagi tayong nakangiti at hindi dinadaig ng ating mga personal na problema. Sabi nga ni pareng Freddie Aguilar, tawanan mo ang iyong problema. A happy person is a healthy person. Ayaw mo ba niyan?