Parents allege doctors left gauze in girl’s throat after surgery

Gurugram: The parents of an 8-year-old diabetic girl alleged that around 8 to 10 inches piece of gauze was left in the girl’s throat after surgery for five days without informing them at Max Hospital Gurugram.

The parents have also filed a complaint against the Hospital at the Sector-29 police station following which the district health officials in Gurugram have formed a medical board and are investigating the matter.

The family alleged that such negligence on part of the hospital led to acute pain in their daughter.

Refuting allegations, a Max Hospital spokesperson said in a statement that “An 8-year-old patient was operated on for Tonsillectomy with Endoscopic Adenoidectomy at Max Hospital, Gurugram on January 30. The patient was discharged with a nasal gauze pack put in the naso-pharyngeal cavity to prevent any bleeding.”

“This is a normal clinical practice. The patient’s family was advised to follow up in five days, wherein the gauze was planned to be removed. The patient was also advised to reach out to the hospital in case of any problems in the interim,” the hospital spokesperson added.

The patient visited Dr Vishesh Malhotra in his clinic for the follow-up on day 5, where the doctor proceeded to remove the gauze. In this visit, the patient’s family expressed concerns regarding the treatment of the child.

“The hospital immediately had the case peer-reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians and asked the patient’s family to visit the hospital and meet the team. They did not visit the hospital as planned. The committee prima-facie did not find any deficiency in the treatment of the patient. Max Hospital, Gurugram categorically denies any charges of deficiency in treatment,” the spokesperson said.

In their complaint to the police, the parents said the surgery took place on January 30 and shortly after discharge the following day, she began developing acute pain in her throat. “When we contacted the doctor, we were told it was nothing. Soon, the child could not swallow anything.”

In the complaint, they named Dr Vishesh Malhotra, whom they visited again on February 6, when he removed the medical gauze and simply blamed nursing staff.

They also alleged that the hospital discharge note makes no mention of the gauze or when it should be removed.

“When we asked the doctor about this negligence, he simply blamed the nursing staff. We were shocked when we got to know that Dr Malhotra and his team had forgotten a piece of gauze in my daughter’s throat after the surgery,” the father told IANS.

Chief medical officer (CMO) of Gurugram, Dr Virender Yadav, said the complaint has been sent to a medical negligence board for further inquiry and investigation.