Family of 8-yr-old allege doctors left gauze in girl’s throat after surgery

Documents seen by HT, however, appear to support the family’s claim – a discharge note makes no mention of the gauze or when it should be removed.

District health officials in Gurugram have formed a medical board and are investigating allegations of negligence against Max Hospital in the city after the parents of an 8-year-old patient said a piece of gauze was left for too long without them being informed, leading to acute pain that was first ignored before the surgical dressing was finally removed.

Kapil Dahl and his wife Shweta Dahl show a cotton gauge stuck in the throat allegedly due to the doctor's negligence during their eight-year-old daughter's tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy surgery, at Max Hospital near Huda city center metro station, in Gurugram, India, on Wednesday. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The hospital disputed the family’s allegations, saying its own team of doctors reviewed the case and found no lapses since a gauze is left following such a surgery – the patient underwent a tonsillectomy -- as a post-operative precaution to prevent bleeding.

Documents seen by HT, however, appear to support the family’s claim – a discharge note makes no mention of the gauze or when it should be removed.

In their complaint to the Sector 29 police station, the parents said the surgery took place on January 30 and shortly after discharge the following day, she began developing acute pain and discomfort. “When we apprised the doctor, we were told it was nothing. Soon, the child could not swallow anything,” the parents said, citing the contents of their complaint.

In the complaint, they name Dr Vishesh Malhotra, whom they visited again on February 6, when he removed “the remnants of a medical gauze”.

Malhotra did not comment on the matter, and redirected queries to the hospital administration.

A Max Hospital spokesperson denied any lapses. “An 8-year-old patient was operated for tonsillectomy with endoscopic adenoidectomy at Max Hospital, Gurgaon, on January 30. The patient was discharged with a nasal gauze pack in the nasopharyngeal cavity to prevent bleeding. This is a normal clinical practice. The patient’s family was advised to follow-up in five days, when the gauze was planned to be removed,” said this person.

“The patient was also advised to reach out to the hospital in case of any problems in the interim. The patient visited Dr Vishesh Malhotra at his clinic for the follow-up on Day 5, where the doctor proceeded to remove the gauze. During this visit, the patient’s family expressed concerns regarding the treatment of the child. Max Hospital, Gurgaon, immediately had the case peer-reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and asked the patient’s family to visit the hospital and meet the team. They did not visit the hospital on Wednesday as planned. The committee prima facie did not find any deficiency in the treatment of the patient. Max Hospital, Gurgaon, categorically denies any charges of deficiency in treatment,” the person added.

Adenoidectomy is the surgical removal of a patch of tissue that sit in the back of the nasal cavity – such growth can cause impaired breathing and chronic infections.

Dr Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer (CMO), Gurugram, Dr Virender Yadav, CMO, said the complaint and case documents have been sent to a medical negligence board for inquiry and necessary action.

“Usually in tonsillectomy with endoscopic adenoidectomy surgery the gauge is left between 48 hours and 72 hours depending on bleeding but not more than this period,” he said.

An independent expert backed this protocol, which seemed to diverge from the five-day window advised by Max Hospital, as per its admission. “It is advised to inform the family of the patient that the gauze is left behind to control bleeding, so that they know about it and can get it removed during the follow-up visit,” said Dr Meena Agarwal, senior consultant (ENT), PSRI Hospital.

The mother of the girl said they spotted the doctor removing portions of the gauze during a visit to Malhotra at private clinic on February 6. She claimed that when asked what the doctor had removed, he doctor tried to dismiss it but the father spotted the gauze in the dustbin and took it out. “We were shocked and shaken when we got to know that Dr Malhotra and his team had forgotten a full gauze pad, around 8 to 10 Inches in size, in my daughter’s throat after the surgery,” she said.

“When we asked doctor about this negligence, he simply blamed the nursing staff,” said the father of the child.

The family said they will file petition in the court against the hospital this week.