Doctors at Maragua Level 4 Hospital in Murang'a County conducted a successful surgery to retrieve a scalpel blade that was left in the abdomen of a 36-year-old woman while she was giving birth 11 years earlier.
The medical practitioners revealed after the 2-hour operation that the blade was left behind while undergoing a Cesarean Section in a hospital in Kitale, through which she delivered her first child.
Doctors stated that the blade had since blocked the woman's uterus, preventing her from conceiving
The hospital’s medical superintendent, Kairo Kimende, who was in charge of the operation, told Citizen TV that the scalpel blade was found in the abdomen and was lodged between the uterus and small intestines.
The woman recalled that she started experiencing complications in 2012 like having a swollen abdomen and constant fainting after the birth of her first child.
She explained that during the 11-year period, she was unaware of the causes of her health problems.
Additionally, she narrated that her husband longed to have another child pressuring her to seek medical opinions from several hospitals.
Moreover, the woman stated that she had given up hope of having other babies and was constantly accused by her husband of intentionally choosing to remain the mother of only one child.
The husband, who was a mechanic, stated that the family was forced to sell pieces of land to raise funds for the medical expenses incurred because of the complications experienced by his wife.
The couple appealed to the government to hold the medical practitioners who made the blander accountable, demanding to be compensated for the damages made.
In a similar case in August 2022, the High Court ordered Siaya County Referral Hospital and a doctor to pay Ksh4 million to a woman who sued the hospital for developing complications after undergoing a cesarean section.
The woman claimed that she had to undergo a second surgery to remove some surgical instruments which had been left in her abdomen after the operation.
