Surgical drain was left in woman’s body for 11 years after hysterectomy

A woman, who we have called Lauren, attended Queen’s Hospital Burton for a hysterectomy in 2012. 

During the surgery, a surgical drain was inserted. The drain was noted to have been removed at 8pm the next day, and Lauren was discharged from the hospital three days later.  

Nearly four years later, Lauren was suffering from loose stools and swelling on the right side of her back and went to her GP. As she had a family history of bowel cancer, she had a blood test, colonoscopy, and an abdominal examination, but the results suggested everything was normal.   

Lauren suffered episodes of pain, nausea and urgency to go to the toilet for the next seven years. 

In 2023, 11 years after the initial surgery, Lauren suffered excruciating pain on her lower left side. She vomited and struggled to breathe. After going to the toilet, she noticed that she had lost a lot of blood.  

Lauren attended A&E at Queen’s Hospital the following afternoon. Following a scan, Lauren overheard a junior doctor on the phone say, “what about the tube?”, before mentioning the need to admit her and to start intravenous antibiotics.  

Lauren was told that she still had a drain in her body, that her colon was inflamed, and that she needed to be admitted to hospital. She was then asked if she had had surgery recently and, as she had not, was instead told that she could be discharged with a prescription for antibiotics.  

10 days later, Lauren returned to the hospital for a CT scan, which confirmed the presence of the drain in her abdomen and inflammation around her colon. An urgent colonoscopy was arranged, and Lauren had to have a further surgery for the drain to be removed.   

Lauren was told that the drain was longer than initially thought, and she could see from the imaging that it was bent, jagged, and could move around. She could see that pieces had broken off the drain and asked whether these were still in her body. Whilst a full body scan showed no other pieces of drain, Lauren was still concerned. 

Following the surgery to remove the drain, Lauren was sore, tired, and shocked at what had happened. The events were distressing for her whole family, due to their history of colon cancer.  

Lauren’s bowel and abdominal symptoms have resolved following the drain’s removal. 

Lauren instructed firm Leigh Day to investigate the care she was provided with. University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust admitted that Lauren received inadequate care during the surgery in 2012 and this caused her pain and suffering and the need for further surgery 11 years later when the drain was discovered. 

Lauren said:

“The experience was shocking, more so after the event, with the lack of genuine regret or regard to the potential risks to health or even life expressed by Queen’s Hospital. I would like to add that my consultant, however, was amazing and without whom, I could have had a very different outcome” 

Medical negligence solicitor Sophie Bainbridge said:

“This is a truly shocking case. My client suffered over a decade of medical trauma due to a drain that should have been removed the day after her surgery. I hope that the trust’s admission of liability and the settlement bring her some closure following this awful ordeal.”