Doctors at Mhaske Hospital Discover Stent Left in Man's Stomach from 2022 Surgery

Pune: For two long years, a 73-year-old man unknowingly carried a life-threatening object inside his body—a stent that he had forgotten to get removed after a medical procedure. What was supposed to drain bile and treat issues in the pancreatic ducts became a source of severe health complications for him.

Stones developed in the bile duct of the man due to his failure to get it removed non-surgically through endoscopy on time. However, Doctors at Mhaske Hospital in Pune successfully removed the stent and the stones through laparoscopic surgery.

Although the patient recovered following the surgery, the incident came as shocking for doctors when they discovered the man living with the stent inside for two years after an Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography was performed in 2022.

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Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, or ERCP, is a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas. Therefore, a stent was inserted to drain bile and treat issues in the pancreatic ducts of the man at a government hospital. 

The man had undergone the procedure at a government hospital and was instructed to return six weeks later, to get the stent removed. However, he allegedly forgot to return and the stent stayed in his body for two years.

The incident came to light when the man was suffering from stomach pain, bloating, fever, jaundice and decided to seek medical attention. Therefore he approached the doctors at Mhaske Hospital in Pune. After conducting an ultrasound, the doctors spotted the stent inside. 

Dr Chetan Mhaske, chief surgeon at Mhaske Hospital, who performed the laparoscopic surgery told TOI, "The man began complaining of stomach pain, bloating, and fever. He also had jaundice. After ruling out all possible reasons, we performed an ultrasound and to our shock, spotted the stent inside. He simply forgot about the follow-up in 2022."

"That was the root cause of his problems. He had undergone the ERCP procedure at a govt hospital, during which the stent was placed to drain bile. This procedure combines the use of endoscopy and fluoroscopy to diagnose and treat certain problems of the biliary or pancreatic ductal systems. He was told to get the stent removed later, but likely forgot," Dr Mhaske added.

Assistant surgeon Dr Anup Kamble said, "If the patient had followed up, the stent could have been removed non-surgically through endoscopy. But because it had been left in there for such a long time, stones developed in the bile duct. So we had to surgically intervene through laparoscopy. The surgery to remove the stent was carried out in Sept. There were follow-up medications and a procedure next month. He has since recovered. If it was just the stent, we would've removed it endoscopically, without surgery. But the two stones needed a surgical procedure."

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