Pre-operation and Post-operation: Should the Remaining Half of the Steel Nail in the Hand be Removed or Not? The Young Man is Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Southeast Network - Strait Times, December 4 (Intern Reporter Shi Jianhua / Text, This Website Reporter Zhang Chaohui / Photo) After Xiao Ye's finger fracture, the doctor implanted two steel nails in him. More than two months later, he returned to the hospital for surgery to remove the steel nails. He originally thought the surgery was successful, but when he looked at the X-ray taken after the operation again, he was stunned - only half of the steel nail had been removed, and the other half was still left in his hand!
In September this year, Xiao Ye, a young man working in Fuzhou, fell off his electric motorcycle and fractured his right-hand finger. He underwent surgery at the Second Hospital of Fujian Provincial Hospital, where the doctor implanted two steel nails in his fractured area for fixation. On November 29, Xiao Ye returned to the Second Hospital for the second surgery to remove the steel nails from his fingers. "The doctor didn't say anything after the surgery, so I thought there was no problem." Xiao Ye originally thought the steel nails had been removed. However, when he returned home and picked up the X-ray taken after the operation, he realized that "half of it was still not pulled out!"
Xiao Ye displayed two X-rays taken after the operation yesterday. In one of the X-rays taken on September 9, two steel nails about three centimeters long could be clearly seen implanted in the thumb of his right hand. In another X-ray taken on November 29, two steel nails about one centimeter long were still visible remaining in his hand.
Xiao Ye then approached the hospital for an explanation, but over the next few days, the hospital kept evading responsibility and refused to coordinate compensation matters.
The reporter subsequently sought clarification from the hospital administration. Director Zeng of the Medical Affairs Department of the Second Hospital denied that the doctor broke the steel nail during the surgery and stated that after analysis, the hospital believed that the steel nail in Xiao Ye's finger might have broken due to external force before the second surgery.
The reporter asked if the doctor should take responsibility if they failed to remove all the steel nails during the surgery? Director Zeng said that the doctor discovered the issue after the surgery, but Xiao Ye left the hospital immediately after the operation and couldn’t be contacted by the doctor. The hospital was willing to waive Xiao Ye’s previous medical expenses and provide free surgery to remove the remaining steel nails. "Doctors from the Provincial Hospital said that if we want to remove the remaining steel nails, we need to grind away a bit of the bone, which may affect the hand. But if we don't remove them, and the steel nails come out during heavy work, it could lead to worse consequences," Xiao Ye said, indicating that he was currently stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Director Zeng said that if the surgery is performed at the Second Hospital, the hospital would be willing to bear the risk of postoperative complications, but Xiao Ye hoped the hospital would compensate him so he could undergo surgery at another hospital.
Currently, both parties have not reached an agreement on the specific amount of compensation.