Number of surgical objects left in bodies of Hong Kong patients hits four-year high

Seven patients who underwent medical procedures in Hong Kong in the first quarter of the year had surgical objects left inside their bodies - the most since 2010, according to new figures.

The items included a 12cm drainage tube left in a patient's abdomen, a 4.5cm catheter tip left in a kidney and the 1cm end of a drill bit that snapped during hip surgery.

In another case, the spiral metallic tip of a fetal scalp electrode was left embedded in the head of a newborn baby. It was not discovered until a month after birth when the parents noticed swelling on their baby's scalp and sought medical advice. It was later removed.

The 12cm drainage tube left inside a patient with colon cancer was discovered three months after the operation, when the patient complained of abdominal pain during a follow-up appointment. Further surgery was required to remove it.

The incidents were revealed by the Hospital Authority in the latest issue of Risk Alert, its magazine for health care professionals. Data collected since 2010 shows the average number of such incidents per quarter is 3.6.

Tim Pang Hung-cheong, spokesman for the Patients' Rights Association, said the number of incidents needed to be monitored closely.

"It is only a single [digit] figure so I don't think it is very alarming," Pang said.