'Tumour' actually a towel....

5 posts · started Jun 5, 2008

cougarnurse Jun 5, 2008, 1:30 PM
What the........! Now this is something: ABS-CBN News Online (Beta)
TOKYO - Doctors who carried out surgery on a Japanese man to remove a "tumor" 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-centimeter (3.2-inch) tumor, he underwent the operation to remove it. It was only then that surgeons realized it was a towel.
"The towel was greenish blue although we are not sure about its original color," the Asahi General Hospital spokesman said, adding it had been crumpled to the size of a softball.
Asahi hospital officials visited the man and apologized, 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.
25 years later, and they finally found the thing?! Any thoughts or comments?
Dillon1 Jun 5, 2008, 1:53 PM
That is unbelievable!!!!!! Carrying that towel around for 25 years. I can't even imagine. Well I guess it is good news he doesn't have cancer but having pain for 25 years because of a towel is crazy. Well they came and apologized...well that was nice...are you kidding me...how do you apologize for something like that? Oh sorry about the pain you have been suffering for all these years..I was wondering where that towel went...
AmandaWIRN Jun 5, 2008, 2:22 PM
My dad had sinus surgery several years ago, and 6 months later, he still kept getting sinus infections- a CT scan revealed a piece of gauze that was left in his sinuses.....
cougarnurse Jun 5, 2008, 3:18 PM
Also, notice that the guy didn't sue. Of course, here in the States we are 'sue-happy'. I realize that counting surgical sponges, etc. is important, but losing a towel? :confused:
kimmiejs Jun 6, 2008, 9:48 AM
cougarnurse wrote:Also, notice that the guy didn't sue. Of course, here in the States we are 'sue-happy'. I realize that counting surgical sponges, etc. is important, but losing a towel? :confused:

Luckily patients here in Australia haven't caught the "sue-happy" bug. If a patient shows up for surgery and does not have a consent, no drama. One can be quickly written up. Besides, the patient did show up for the surgery. Here that is almost as good as a signed consent.