Investigation after surgeon used rusty saw during amputation - Polidicks

[QUOTE]A hospital surgeon allegedly used a "rusty hacksaw" to amputate a patient's leg after attempting to get a suitable instrument from B&Q. The Ayr Hospital surgeon was cutting into the pensioner's limb when the knife struck a metal plate in his leg. After B&Q was found to be closed, the operation went ahead with the sterilised saw found in a storage area. NHS Ayrshire and Arran said it was investigating an incident "where standard procedures were not followed". A health board source said: "An elderly man who was a patient at Crosshouse Hospital needed a leg amputation and was taken to Ayr Hospital for the operation, because that's where the vascular surgeons are based. "The operating theatre was prepared, he was anaesthetised and the operation began but it was halted after the surgeon had difficulty cutting further. "That's when he discovered he'd hit a metal plate that they didn't know about. So he frantically sought advice from the consultant orthopaedic surgeon, who suggested going to B&Q." However, the store was closed because the operation was being carried out after 21:00 so the surgeon decided to use the saw which was from old hospital stock." The source added: "The saw was sterilised by soaking in some disinfectant solution and the surgeon proceeded to complete the amputation after cutting through the metal plate. "If this is a proper investigation it should be shared with all as learning. This should never have happened. I have never come across anything similar in my career." It is understood the patient and his relatives were told about what happened some time after the incident.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-32865032[/url]

What I want to know is how come there were no scans or even X-rays of the area in question available? Unless it was an emergency i'm pretty sure that's what they do in advance and at least try and find out if there was a previous history of surgery done at the site. If they failed to do any of this, unless this was a serious emergency requiring immediate surgery they probably did a big boo-boo. Plates aren't just something you ignore in major surgeries.

How the hell did they not know about the plate before attempting to cut his leg off? You think they would have x-rayed it before hand, or even be told about it from the hospital that sent him in for the operation.

The solution to this is obviously more privatisation.

So what are we not getting the name of this magnificent and glorious retard?

[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47794478]So what are we not getting the name of this magnificent and glorious retard?[/QUOTE] I don't think they're allowed to release names until charges are made, am I correct?

[QUOTE=Lord Xenoyia;47794490]I don't think they're allowed to release names until charges are made, am I correct?[/QUOTE] Can't imagine it'll be much longer. Seriously if you're amputating they should be double checking the limb anyway, but the guy getting the amputation is also a screaming retard for not telling the doc he has a plate in it.

[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47794527]Can't imagine it'll be much longer. Seriously if you're amputating they should be double checking the limb anyway, but the guy getting the amputation is also a screaming retard for not telling the doc he has a plate in it.[/QUOTE] Allow me to play devil's advocate for the patient; it could be possible that they might have mental or degenerative disorders that will prevent them from giving a proper or coherent history, even if you ask them about anything that might have happened in the past. And patients also do have a habit of not mentioning stuff that might not sound important [u]at the time[/u] to them unless you do a bit of prodding yourself with leading questions. So this makes the attending physicians doubly culpable for not having got the x-rays done at the bare minimum.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but rust isn't actually dangerous in itself, it just provides a very easy site for certain bacteria to grow (that is to say, rust itself isn't what causes tetanus, rather it's the bacteria that grow comfortably on rust that cause tetanus). So wouldn't this actually not be too risky, considering they seem to have thoroughly disinfected the saw before use? Not to say it's any less morbid as a story, but maybe being overplayed a bit?

[QUOTE=Beetle179;47794622]Correct me if I'm wrong, but rust isn't actually dangerous in itself, it just provides a very easy site for certain bacteria to grow (that is to say, rust itself isn't what causes tetanus, rather it's the bacteria that grow comfortably on rust that cause tetanus). So wouldn't this actually not be too risky, considering they seem to have thoroughly disinfected the saw before use? Not to say it's any less morbid as a story, but maybe being overplayed a bit?[/QUOTE] The primary issue is that procedure was breached. That's not supposed to happen, because established procedure has to be properly planned for even before the patient goes into the theater, and that includes investigations, such as, oh, X-rays of the surgical site. This wouldn't even have been a necessity if they'd have just taken the trouble to investigate, at which point they could have procured and sterilized the tools needed in advance and thus helped keep the chain of sterilization unbroken. It's safer to use the right tools for the right job, especially during surgeries, because amputation site infections aren't something you fuck around with.

Life imitating art. I swear I heard a death metal song with lyrics like that once.

I think that I read somewhere that at the stage of operation there was no going back. I'd of thought they'd stitch him back up and continue later but I know nothing of the medical profession.

[QUOTE=Enola;47795186]I think that I read somewhere that at the stage of operation there was no going back. I'd of thought they'd stitch him back up and continue later but I know nothing of the medical profession.[/QUOTE] It depends as it does on the procedures in question. In some situations it's also a judgment call that depends on the operating surgeon.

Sounds like a multiple errors led to this. No knowledge of the plate? No spare equipment? [QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47794478]So what are we not getting the name of this magnificent and glorious retard?[/QUOTE] Honestly I'm not even sure I would lay blame on the surgeon.

I think we are neglecting an issue here. They tried to get another saw from B&Q, surely that's a bad thing, right?

[QUOTE=MissZoey;47796915]I think we are neglecting an issue here. They tried to get another saw from B&Q, surely that's a bad thing, right?[/QUOTE] I know right? When HomeBase was just around the corner

If it's an older gent having the surgery if makes sense to a point. If he got the plate earlier in his life there would almost certainly be no paper trail. The NHS is pretty notorious for that a few decades ago. There's just so many holes, and why would you necessarily perform scans or tests unless you more or less know what you're looking for. However, that'sall pretty irrelevant when it's a plate in a leg. A surgeon of all people must be able to tell it's there.

[QUOTE=Memobot;47797477]If it's an older gent having the surgery if makes sense to a point. If he got the plate earlier in his life there would almost certainly be no paper trail. The NHS is pretty notorious for that a few decades ago. There's just so many holes, and why would you necessarily perform scans or tests unless you more or less know what you're looking for. However, that'sall pretty irrelevant when it's a plate in a leg. A surgeon of all people must be able to tell it's there.[/QUOTE] An X-Ray of the area should be a bare minimum for [I]exactly this type of situation[/I].

Obamacare strikes again! [sp]:v:[/sp]

Also, this seems like such a sitcom-ey situation. [I]"Why'd you stop cutting?" "There's a metal plate in his leg. We don't have anything to cut a metal plate. Got any ideas?" "Oi we'll just go over to the ole' B&Q!"[/I]

Well they can't say it didn't get the job done