Surgeon operates on wrong side of head
A surgeon in Providence, Rhode Island, operated on the wrong side of a man’s head after a CT scan was placed backward on an X-ray viewing box. The patient had bleeding on the right side of his brain, but the reversed scan made it look as if the bleeding was on the left, according to Rhode Island Hospital’s report. In addition, the patient’s incision site had not been marked with a pen, as recommended by error-prevention experts.
The surgeon drilled two holes in the left side of the patient’s skull and found no bleeding. The procedure was repeated on the right side and the blood was drained. The patient has suffered no ill effects from the Dec. 12 error, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Full story from the Associated Press
