A woman who claims she has a metal surgical staple that was mistakenly left in her body during surgery more than 20 years ago is taking legal action.
Rouba Naboulsi, 48, claims surgeons forgot the small metal clip while stitching her up after a routine gallbladder removal in 1997 in Auburn Hospital in SydneyIt is to the west.
The object remained undetected in his abdomen and eventually his rectum until an MRI in December 2020 had to be aborted due to a metallic object, according to documents submitted to the New South Wales Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Respondents, administrators at Auburn Hospital, say the clip could have been left there from a series of C-section deliveries rather than the 1997 surgery.
Naboulsi said he started experiencing excruciating pain in his abdomen in 2003, but despite seeing several doctors, they were baffled as to what the problem could be until his GP recommended MRI.
“To this day I continue to experience pain in my lower right abdomen,” he wrote in his sworn statement to the court.
‘The pain prevents me from bending or kneeling to pray. Also, I can’t sit still for long periods of time.’
Naboulsi also wrote that doctors told him that removing the clip would be difficult and cost approximately $12,000.
She is suing the administrators of Auburn Hospital, Western Sydney Local Health District, for damages.
Surgeon Dr. Peter Conrad also provided an affidavit stating that he believed there was “very clear evidence” that a clip was lost during the 1997 procedure.
“A laparoscopic clip escaped from the applicator during the procedure, fell into the peritoneal cavity, and was not recovered by the surgeons,” he wrote.
He presented evidence demonstrating the same complication in other patients.
In response, the Western Sydney Local Health District argued Ms Naboulsi had numerous caesarean deliveries which could also have resulted in a clip being left in by mistake.
They also argued that Ms Naboulsi had no independent “support” that the clip had caused “any damage or deterioration” and, given the time that had passed since the removal of her gallbladder in 1997, there was no way of knowing with what operation the clip was related. .
After hearing arguments, Judge Monika Schmidt ruled in favor of the case moving forward to trial.
The two sides were told to return with brief submissions within 14 days.
