Woman’s kidney slowly destroyed by forgotten clip

The patient underwent surgery in 1992 to remove her left ureter and ovary, where a tumor had been detected. Approximately 18 months later, she underwent a laparoscopy and lysis of adhesions and biopsy of the right ovary.

The patient subsequently underwent an additional surgery performed by a third doctor, which was an exploratory laparotomy with lysis of adhesions and right ovarian cystectomy and partial omentectomy.

During that procedure, visual inspection of the left kidney revealed that it appeared slightly enlarged. The right ureter was identified and was noted to be away from the surgical area during the operation on the right ovary. There was no mention made of the left ureter at that time.

Nearly 10 years later, the plaintiff underwent a CT urogram to evaluate complaints of left side abdominal pain. The plaintiff was found to have severe hydronephrosis and chronic obstruction of her essentially non-functioning left kidney, likely related to a surgical clip that the woman’s urologist believed was placed “10 years ago.”

At arbitration, the defense maintained that it would have been impossible to clip the ureter in 1992 without the patient having experienced immediate excruciating pain. On cross-examination, the defense expert admitted that one could have a partial obstruction without pain and that a partial obstruction could lead to a total obstruction and kidney failure years later.

The case ended with an arbitration award of $450,000.

Type of action: Medical malpractice

Injuries alleged: Destruction of kidney due to misplacement of surgical clip

Date: October 2009

Submitted by: Gregg J. Pasquale, Melissa A. White and John P. Story, Keches Law Group, Taunton