JEDDAH — A patient claimed King Abdulaziz Hospital mistakenly performed an appendectomy on him when his appendix was perfectly healthy, Al-Madinah reported.
Dhaifallah Hadadi said he came to King Abdulaziz Hospital suffering from an inflated abdomen.
He said: “They ran tests and scans on me and I underwent a four-hour surgery.
“After the surgery I woke up and the inflammation in my abdomen was still there and I still felt pain.”
Jeddah Health Affairs spokesman Saleh Al-Malki denied Hadadi's claim.
He said: “The patient came to the emergency ward of a hospital with symptoms of appendicitis. His medical records showed he had two liters of pus and swollen lymphatic glands. His intestines were also swollen.”
He added the hospital conducted an analysis of the pus and the patient's lymphatic glands.
“The results revealed the patient had appendicitis and lymphadenitis (the infection of lymphatic glands).
“Before performing the appendectomy, the hospital treated him for Crohn's disease and the patient took doses of Sulfasalazine.”
He added the patient's body did not respond to the Crohn's disease treatment so the hospital performed an endoscopy to examine his digestive tract.
“The hospital tested a sample of his intestine and ran a CT scan for his abdomen to find pus in it.
“The hospital incised his abdomen to clean it and the patient complained of a fistula after the operation.”
He said the hospital found out that the patient's brother suffers from tuberculosis and is on medication.
“There was a big chance that the patient contracted the disease from his brother and treated him for tuberculosis.
“The treatment was effective, which proves that he did have the disease.
“He is still in the hospital but in a good condition.”
He added Hadadi's digestive tract is healthy and his recent CT scans showed a deflation of the intestine.
