Woman’s Spleen Removed Accidentally Instead of Tumourous Kidney

The botched operation happened at St Paul’s Hospital in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — A woman lost her spleen due to a botched operation at a Hong Kong private hospital that was meant to remove a tumourous kidney.

South China Morning Post reported the Hong Kong Department of Health and St Paul’s Hospital in Causeway Bay as saying that the 57-year-old woman was operated on by a visiting urologist at the hospital on March 25.

But pathological tests after the surgery showed that the organ removed was her spleen instead, a hospital spokesman was quoted saying yesterday.

“As for the professional performance relating to the surgeon, the department had instructed the hospital to submit the case to its Medical Advisory Committee for examination,” a Department of Health spokesman was quoted saying.

Urologist Dr Kenneth Fu Kam-fung reportedly said he had never heard of such a blunder happening in Hong Kong, pointing to the major difference between the kidney and the neighbouring spleen, a non-vital organ.

Those without a spleen may take longer to recover from illness or injury, besides facing higher risks, especially after surgery, of pneumonia and other infections.

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