Pain: Woman has been living with a surgical needle forgotten in her vagina for 18 years

Even though children are born every day, human birth is an extremely dangerous situation, despite medical advances. Especially for expectant mothers. A woman in Thailand is still suffering from the consequences decades later: she still has a surgical needle in her vagina. And now hopes for their removal.

This is reported by the “Independent”. The woman had to be stitched during childbirth 18 years ago. The needle slipped out of a nurse’s fingers. A doctor’s attempts to fish them out with his fingers failed. In order to avoid further blood loss, the doctor decided to complete the operation. And to leave the needle inside.

After years of sometimes severe pain, the now 36-year-old from Narathiwat province was x-rayed last year. The needle was discovered, which was still in the tissue of the vaginal wall decades later. Several attempts to remove it surgically had to be aborted: the needle kept moving in the tissue, making it difficult to determine the correct location for the procedure.

The medical problems are increasingly becoming a challenge for women. Because she has to be examined up to four times a month for consequences, the medical bills are piling up. In her distress, she turned to a local foundation, which has now made the case public. “Her family lives in poverty, so she asked Paveena for help,” the foundation’s website says. Together with the local authorities, a solution should now be found to finally free the woman from her suffering, promised the foundation’s founder Paveena Hongsakul during a joint hospital visit with the affected person and her family.

Whether and how the needle can be removed should be discussed together with experts and the head of the hospital. Because of the movement in the tissue, doctors fear a high risk of complications. There is also a suspicion that the abdominal pain is not caused by the needle – even if there is no alternative explanation so far, according to a Facebook post from the foundation. However, the hospital agreed in principle to carry out an operation. The woman should now decide by December 4th whether she wants to take the risk.

The story caused a lot of anger on social media – and calls to sue the birth hospital or the doctor responsible. However, the person affected has not yet commented on such plans.