5 Day Old Boy May Lose Arm To Amputation After Kano Hospital Doctor Forgets To Remove Medical Device Attached To Limb For 18 Hours

There is a high tendency that a five-day-old boy’s right arm will be amputated after a doctor failed to remove a tourniquet from his hand for more than 18 hours after taking a blood sample.

A tourniquet is a device that is used to apply pressure to a limb or extremity in order to stop the flow of blood.

The incident occurred a few hours after the baby was born at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano.

According to physiotherapists, the affected hand is not functioning and may have to be amputated.

Malam Umaru Shamsu, the boy’s father, told Daily Trust that the tragic incident began after his wife underwent surgery and doctors discovered that the boy had a problem with his breathing, prompting them to admit him to the hospital’s paediatric clinic.

He said, “The doctor took his blood, but he forgot to remove the tourniquet, which prevented blood from circulating in his hand for 18 hours. According to the doctors, the device should not have been left for more than two minutes on the newborn’s hand.

“I left the hospital a few hours after he was born. His mother was also admitted. When I came back the following day, I didn’t see the baby. The nurses refused to tell me what happened. Later, they briefed me and urged us to take heart and pray.”

When the hand was examined by physiotherapy doctors at the hospital, they discovered that it was not working.

“The doctors said we should keep on praying and that they had put him on treatment, but that if it fails, we have to accept our destiny as the hand will be amputated,” the father added.

He went on to say that the hospital’s chief medical director had ordered that the boy be treated for free, but that they later presented him with a bill for medicine.

“To my surprise, they brought a bill for us to buy medicine. This means we still have to take care of the monetary aspect, after what they have done to us. We are now left to think of what will happen to the boy. Whether the hand will recover or he has to be amputated,” he said.

In response to the tragic incident, the hospital’s public relations officer, Hajiya Hauwa Muhd Abdullahi, said in a statement that the management was shocked and condemned the doctor’s alleged negligence.

She stated that the matter had been referred to the Committee on Duty Negligence for investigation and appropriate action.

She stated further that the hospital regretted the incident, claiming it had never happened in the past 33 years of its existence.

The chief medical director, Professor Abdurrahman Abba Sheshe, urged patients and relatives with any complaints to report them to the hospital’s Servicom desk officers.