Doctors Remove a Scalpel Blade from Kenyan Woman’s Abdomen 11 Years After Surgery

A team of medics at Maragua Level IV Hospital in Murang’a has removed a surgical blade that was left in the abdomen of a woman 11 years ago. 

Felistah Nafula, 36, started experiencing abdominal pains in 2012 after delivering her first child through a Cesarean Section surgery at Kitale District Hospital.

For years, Nafula believed she was suffering from ulcers until the problem persisted, with doctors suspecting the problem was bigger.

Scans revealed she had a metallic object lodged in her abdomen and she was booked for surgery at Maragua Level IV Hospital, where she underwent a two-hour operation on Thursday.

Dr. Kairo Kimende, the hospital’s medical superintendent, said the team found the scalpel blade in the abdomen and was lodged between the uterus and small intestines.

Kimende said the blade had also blocked the uterus, which prevented Nafula from conceiving.

Nafula told reporters that the blade nearly ended her marriage as her husband often demanded to know why she could not get pregnant for her second child.

Prior to the discovery of the scalpel in her abdomen, Nafula had sought medical opinions from several hospitals in an effort to get another child as well as end the pain in the abdomen.

Her husband Samuel Mungai, who is a mechanic, said he spent most of his income to cater for his wife’s medical needs and was forced to sell off their parcels of land.

The couple is appealing for the government’s intervention to have the medics who conducted the operation prosecuted as well as get compensation for the alleged negligence.

"I hope the government will investigate the medics who handled my wife's Caesarian birth 11 years ago and have them explain how and why the blade was dumped inside my wife's abdomen," said Mungai.

He added: “I hope they will compensate us for the troubles, anguish and losses suffered.”