Nedumangad: A two-month-long ordeal of severe pain ended in a startling discovery for a 57-year-old man after surgeons removed a wooden fragment from his leg that had allegedly gone undetected during earlier treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital.
V Madhu, a woodcutting worker and resident of Mahesh Bhavan in Karikkad near Bharathanur, is alleged to have suffered medical negligence during treatment at the Medical College Hospital. A wooden fragment measuring 5 cm in length and 3 cm in width, which had reportedly not been detected in earlier X-rays and examinations, was removed from his leg on Monday during a one-and-a-half-hour surgery at Nedumangad District Hospital.
Madhu sustained an injury to his left leg on March 21 after falling from a mango tree while cutting branches and landing on a pile of cut branches on the ground. He was initially taken to a private hospital in Pangode and later referred to the Medical College Hospital, where an X-ray examination was conducted at the emergency orthopaedics department.
According to relatives, the scan had revealed two stones lodged inside the wound, which were subsequently removed. The wound was then stitched with 12 sutures, and a follow-up X-ray was also taken. Madhu was later referred to the Palode Government Hospital for further treatment and discharged after three days. However, the pain persisted.
He continued treatment for more than a month at the Bharathanur Nellikunnu PHC, but the infection and pus discharge did not subside. He later approached the Nedumangad District Hospital on May 14, where a procedure to drain the pus was carried out on Monday under the supervision of Dr V S Ajithkumar. It was during this surgery that the wooden fragment was discovered and removed from the wound.
Commenting on the incident, Health Minister K Muraleedharan said the principal of the Medical College Hospital, Dr P K Jabbar, had been directed to investigate the matter.
“Statements will be taken from the surgeon who conducted the procedure at the Medical College Hospital and the superintendent of Nedumangad District Hospital. Action will be taken after the report is received,” the minister said.
