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Published : 15 Jul 2025, 11:16 PM
A woman in Narsingdi is in critical condition after surgeons pulled out an 18-inch surgical mop from her abdomen, allegedly left in during a delivery almost a month ago.
On Jul 3, the surgical mop, a fabric commonly used to clean blood during medical procedures, was removed from the woman’s abdomen during surgery at a private hospital in Dhaka.
Sixteen days earlier, it had been sewn in during a cesarean section surgery in Narsingdi’s Shibpur Upazila, according to the woman’s brother Zahirul Islam, who filed a complaint.
Doctors said the patient is in a critical condition.
Narsingdi District Civil Surgeon Syed Md Amirul Haque Shameem said a three-member investigation committee has been formed to look into this incident based on the complaint.
The victim, Lima Akhter, 28, is a resident of Masimpur union in Shibpur Upazila. She is undergoing treatment at Siraj-Khaleda Memorial Cantonment Board General Hospital at Dhaka Cantonment.
According to the complaint, Lima was admitted to Narsingdi City Hospital on Jun 17 when she started having labour pains. That afternoon, she gave birth to a son via a C-section surgery, performed by the hospital's doctor, Shiuli Akhter.
Lima was discharged from the hospital on Jun 21. After returning home, she started experiencing severe pain in her abdomen, it added.
Her brother Zahirul contacted the hospital's Managing Director (MD) Ratan Mia, and Lima was taken back to the same hospital on Jun 25 for medical tests, but no issues were detected, according to the complaint.
Later, she was taken to another private hospital in Narsingdi, where a doctor examined her and recommended transferring her to Dhaka immediately, saying a foreign object was lodged inside her abdomen, it added.
Lima was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for tests. Unable to get adequate care there, she was admitted to the Siraj-Khaleda Memorial Cantonment Board General Hospital.
After the tests, the doctors confirmed that she had a surgical mop in her body and advised her to undergo surgery immediately.
On Jul 3, Brig Gen AHM Shakhawat Hossain performed surgery and removed the piece of fabric from the patient’s body.
Zahirul said his sister has been on the verge of death since the first surgery. She has an infection, and her abdomen is still swollen.
“She is in writhing pain and had to be kept in the intensive care unit for five days before and after the second surgery. The newborn has been deprived of maternal care and breast milk, putting him at serious risk,” he said.
He added that a complaint has been filed with the civil surgeon of Narsingdi. He will lodge another complaint to the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) over the incident.
City Hospital MD Ratan said, “I went to the patient’s house and tried to negotiate a settlement of Tk 150,000, but they demanded more.
“The incident happened by mistake, and it can’t be undone. We have also said that we will take responsibility for the patient’s treatment.”
Repeated attempts were made to contact Dr Shiuli, but her mobile phone remained switched off.
Dr Shameem said, “Such a heinous mistake cannot happen. I have heard that the patient is in critical condition. How could they put such a big piece of cloth in their body and sew over it, endangering the patient’s life?”
He said action will be taken against those involved based on the investigation committee’s report.
