Hemocatheter removed incorrectly

[RightSide]

Last December (2009), a surgeon removed my hemodialysis catheter, and I've been using a fistula ever since.

Recently, I started getting what appeared to be an infected cyst near the catheter site:  Swelling, and smelly drainage.  My neph did a culture and found it badly infected.  He put me on IV antibiotics, but they failed to cure it.

So I consulted another surgeon.  And this surgeon found that it wasn't a cyst.  Rather, a piece of the catheter sheath had been left inside my body when the catheter was removed.  It was a piece of plastic about an inch or so long, that had become colonized with bacteria.  So he removed it, and put me back on IV antibiotics.  Hopefully now the infection should clear.

But leaving a piece of catheter inside my body represents a clear medical error.

A dialysis nurse told me that she had seen this type of mistake before.  Anybody here have something like this happen to them?

[galvo]

No, thank God!

[jeannea]

That's awful!!  I hope you feel better soon.

[KICKSTART]

Nothing suprises me !  I hope it all heals well now.

[Jean]

OMG, that is awful. So sorry it happened to you and surely hope it clears up soon.

[kitkatz]

Oh Geez. Someone needs to be hit with a stick! 

[Rerun]

OMG!  AND you still had to pay the bill!  That is where Medicare (if they paid it) should get their money back.  IDIOTS!

                       

[RightSide]

Thanks for your kind thoughts.

Rerun:

I had been the victim of another medical error about 10 years ago.  I was so incensed that I called my insurer and told their representative that they shouldn't reimburse that doctor for his treatment of me, because he did such a terrible job.  Their representative replied that it's not the insurer's job to judge the doctor's competence; if I have any gripes about the doctor's treatment, I should consult an attorney instead.

[natnnnat]

Did they apologise? E.g. the original surgeon, or people who might be responsible for your long term care?

[thegrammalady]

hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[okarol]

  Ugh that makes me MAD!

[Sunny]

Such outrageous incompetence.
I'm sorry for what you've been through.

[casper2636]

What a horror story! The pain must have been excruciating! I guess I was blessed, or worked on by an incompetent doctor, because my cath literally FELL OUT! I had my stitches out earlier that day and went to change my shirt and heard it hit the floor. I freaked. Didn't bleed or anything. Very strange. Makes you wounder about doctors.
Casper2636

[Riki]

I've heard of them falling out before.  A friend of mine had that happen.. he was about 11 at the time. We were both in the hospital, and I remember him coming back from the dialysis unit laughing cuz it fell out.  They had another one in him by the next day. It's kind of funny.  He seemed to take so much in stride, but of all the kids I knew, he had to be the one who was most depressed.  He was far from home and didn't get any visitors.  He was one of the kids my parents "adopted" when I was in hospital, cuz one of them was always with me, and those kids didn't have anybody.

Rightside, what were the symptons you had?  I've just had my line taken out about the end of May, and your story has got me a little worried now

[rocker]

Hubby had one fall out, too.  He was out in the garage, moving some boxes around, and felt something funny inside his shirt on his stomach...

Story is here http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=12914.msg222279#msg222279

[RightSide]

Rightside, what were the symptons you had?  I've just had my line taken out about the end of May, and your story has got me a little worried now

Right after the catheter was removed, I had no symptoms at all.  The site healed, and I just forgot about it.

Then, a few months after that, I started noticing what appeared to be a lump just under my skin, maybe a half inch from the catheter site hole.  But I'm used to having sebaceous cysts, so I assumed that's what it was, and I just ignored it.

Then a couple of months after that, I suddenly started to see bloody drainage coming from the catheter site hole once again, long after it was supposed to have healed.  I showed it to a couple of the nurses at my dialysis clinic, but they had no idea what was going on.

Then after that, the bloody drainage turned purulent and smelly.  Now a nurse cultured it, and it was found to be heavily infected.

I should say that this new surgeon, the one I consulted this past week, pulled the piece of catheter sheath out via the original catheter site hole.  Evidently the catheter sheath was keeping the hole from closing fully, so it never quite healed.

[casper2636]

That's awful! I hope the infection was cleared up quickly! I'm so lucky (if I can say that at all) that I had no problems with infection, despite the conditions that my cath "fell out"

[RightSide]

That's awful! I hope the infection was cleared up quickly! I'm so lucky (if I can say that at all) that I had no problems with infection, despite the conditions that my cath "fell out"

If your catheter fell out completely, I'll bet that's less likely to cause a nasty infection than if a piece of it remained inside--as was the case with me.

The reason why catheters can cause infections is that the bacteria can colonize along the surface of the catheter.  These biofilms are very difficult, if not impossible, to cure with antibiotics.

The infection I had would never have cleared without surgical removal of that infected piece of catheter sheath.  It's a good thing that I insisted to my neph that I wanted to see a surgeon, rather than just keep throwing antibiotics at the infection as he was doing.

[casper2636]

Rightside,
It was a good thing that you were proactive in the treatment with your infection. You told them what you wanted them to do. I'm find I spend too much time listening to them himming and hawing about what they should do instead of SPEAKING UP ABOUT WHAT I WANT DONE!!!
Casper~

[tito]

Rightside,

Sorry you had that happen - how terrible.

I was just reading on a patient access site the report from the removal of a hemocatheter I had last year. The doctor noted that upon removal, the catheter was inspected carefully to make sure it was intact. Guess your doctor didn't do this. My nephrologist does all the procedures, and he's extremely careful.

You're in Boston, too, I believe. I'll give you his name!!!

Pete

[kristina]

Rightside, I am sorry about your experiences.
I am so glad that you followed your instinct and insisted to see a surgeon!
Best wishes from Kristina.

[RightSide]

I was just reading on a patient access site the report from the removal of a hemocatheter I had last year. The doctor noted that upon removal, the catheter was inspected carefully to make sure it was intact. Guess your doctor didn't do this. My nephrologist does all the procedures, and he's extremely careful.

You're in Boston, too, I believe. I'll give you his name!!!

Better yet, post his name here.

You never know if any newbies from Boston will be joining us in the future.

[jbeany]

As I've said before, it infuriates me that I can check with the Better Business Bureau to find out if the plumber I'm hiring is competent or has dozens of complaints filed against him, but there's a huge white wall of silence around incompetent doctors.

[funnygarcia]

When my dh had a cath removed the interventional radiology tech told us some facts about the removal process and how it was done in the past. (Mostly to keep my dh calm during the procedure.. and as he is a science teacher it was an interesting topic).

She was very careful to pull off all the scar tissue surrounding the cath during removal (using scissors and tweezers to gentle pull away tissue). Eventually she had to use a scalpel to get the last remaining bit holding it in.

Showed us the entire line and talked about where it actually was in the body. And we talked about other places they put in central lines.. intriguing stuff BTW

Anyway, she told us in the past it was not uncommon for several staff to hold down the patient while a doctor basically YANKED the cath out.    Leaving the cuffed part (that the scar tissue forms around to anchor the line) inside the body. Eventually, the body would form more scar tissue to surround the piece. Over time the patient would have a hard knot of tissue at that location on the chest.

She also told us that the remaining piece could cause an abcess in some patients. Which is why they have stopped the YANK it out style of removal. 

[Stoday]

 

That wasn't funny, garcia!