Medical error : the seven-year-old with a tube of 25 cm in the belly

sudok1/epictura

Published the 01.07.2017 at 10h26

A A

Keywords :

errors médicalesappendicite

For seven years, Nelson has hosted in her belly, a tube of 25 cm. A hose forgotten there, in her womb for seven long years. The Parisian echoes a particularly surprising error medical on a young man, operated on for appendicitis when he was 15 years old. Today, the young man was 22 and just remove the two pieces of intestine.

The origin of the trouble dates back to 2010. Nelson is supported for acute appendicitis in Orsay (Essonne). He undergoes a surgical removal of the appendix, but four months later, he feels intense pain on the side of his body under the right arm.

Diagnostic uncertainty

For seven years, he consulted twenty times. “Scanner, ultrasound, MRI, more tests and the same diagnosis : you have nothing, it is muscular,” says the Parisian. The young man suffers so much that, on several occasions, he must give up to go to work at Rungis, where he is a preparer of commands. His girlfriend thinks he adds a little.

Until the night of may 2017. The pain tears sleep, it wakes up his girlfriend crying and begging them to take her to the hospital. Back to Orsay. Diagnosis : pulmonary infection. Five minutes later, the doctor changes his mind : pulmonary embolism. Forty-eight hours later, another version : infection in the liver. And finally, no, this would be a worm tropical in the liver. But weird, the de-worming do nothing.

And for good reason. No parasite in the liver of Nelson, transferred to the hospital of Kremlin-Bicêtre (Val-de-Marne, france), specialized in tropical diseases. In the auscultant, the doctors see straight away that the track of the worm tropical doesn’t stand up. A radio confirms their suspicions.

Bodies pierced

The young man was in reality a foreign body in the stomach, left there after a surgical operation. Nelson made the link with his appendicitis, seven years earlier. Since then, the piece of plastic had migrated in his body and pierced his organs.

It will take three hours for surgeons to remove the tube and seven days in Nelson to get out of the hospital. Today, it rests in him, to stop working. He struggles to walk and still suffers from an infection of the liver. His belly scarred door forever, the footprint of this heavy mistake.

The young man is going to take legal action, says the Parisian. His lawyer, Me Jean-Michel Scharr, a specialist in medical errors, underlines the tragic consequences of this oversight : “In general, doctors will notice it quickly and réopèrent. Seven years is exceptional. His youth is broken. “