Wrong implant for surgery

TT, Siliguri, May 12: A wrong implant has been delivered by a private agency for a patient requiring an orthopaedic surgery at North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Doctors who were supposed to conduct the surgery yesterday noticed the error inside the operation theatre, a few minutes before the operation. They immediately cancelled the surgery, sent back the patient to his bed and informed the authorities.

Sources said Tarun Kumar Bhadra, 50, a resident of Falakata in Alipurduar, had met with a motorcycle accident on April 2. He was brought to Siliguri and admitted to a private nursing home. On April 8, his family and relatives shifted him to NBMCH where doctors found that he had a fracture in the tibia or the shinbone of the right leg.

"His family members were told that he needed a surgery and a plate had to be set in the leg as an implant," said an NBMCH source.

Accordingly, the private agency that supplies such implants to NBMCH was asked to supply the necessary item. Doctors at the orthopaedic department fixed yesterday as the date of surgery.

"Bijoy Bhattacharya, the head of orthopaedic department, was supposed to conduct the surgery. The patient was brought to the operation theatre and anaesthesia was administered to him. Bhattacharya, before starting the surgery, opened the packet containing the implant. It was written on the cover that the implant is for the right leg, as it was requisitioned by the authorities," sources said.

On opening the packet, Bhattacharya found a steel box inside which was the implant. "However, the implant was for the left leg. It is good that the doctor had opened the package before the surgery. He immediately cancelled the surgery and asked the paramedics to shift the patient to his ward," the sources said.

The NBMCH authorities were informed, who in turn, decided to call the agency's representatives.

"It is not a minor mistake but a critical lapse. Had the doctor started the surgery, it would have been a major problem. We have clarified the entire issue to the patient's family who understood that the lapse was on the part of the private agency. We will soon fix another date for the surgery," Nirmal Bera, the superintendent of NBMCH, said.

"We have also called representatives of the agency and have sought a clarification from them. They have been asked to supply the appropriate implant without any delay," he added.