The negative effect of bad surgeon

I was operating on a patient to remove his kidney.

The patient had had multiple surgeries in the past on his kidney and at this point was just a continuous source of infection- it no longer functioned.

The patient wanted me to remove it.

I removed the kidney laparoscopically and opened it to see what was inside.

I found this:

I was shocked.

It was a laser fiber that had broken inside the patient while being operated on by another surgeon 18 years prior. It had been left to form a stone and caused endless infections.

After the surgery, I informed the patient as to what I had discovered- he knew right away who the surgeon had been.

It is very sad to have your kidney damaged and your life affected because of a bad surgeon who didn’t have the appropriate ethical guidelines.

He could have referred the patient to someone else so the problem could be fixed before the damage became permanent.