A woman suffered crippling pain after a medical device the size of a dinner plate was left inside her abdomen for 18 months after she gave birth via a caesarean section, an official report has said.
The unnamed woman, who is in her 20s, underwent the procedure in 2020 due to complications with her pregnancy and the patient's "elevated maternal body mass," according to the report, which was released on Monday by New Zealand’s Health and Disability Commissioner, Morag McDowell.
The woman complained of severe chronic pain for months after the birth of her child, and doctors eventually discovered that an Alexis wound retractor — a round, soft tubular device used to draw back the edges of a wound during surgery — had been accidentally left inside her during the operation.
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