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Can anyone who works in an operating theatre explain this?

11 replies

ShamefulNameChange1 · 11/05/2023 17:38

6 months ago I had to have emergency abdominal surgery. I was in surgery for 6 hours and had to stay in hospital for a week afterwards. It was only my abdomen that was operated on.

But when I came round one of the first things I noticed was my big toe hurt. I was on lots of painkillers so didn’t think much of it but a few days later when staff were trying to get me mobile I struggled to walk because of my big toe. The nail had gone black and think and there were traces of blood on it, like something had been dropped on it or it had been pinched. I’m fairly certain it was broken as , even now, it still looks a bit bent and the last bit of black nail is growing out.

I’m not looking to assign blame or anything, I’m just really curious as to how this actually happened. I was incredibly unwell before my operation but I’m 100% certain that my toe was fine. Even if something was dropped on my foot I’d have thought it would injure the whole foot rather than just the toe. Or maybe poor circulation/ it being cold in there might have caused it? But wouldn’t that have just damaged the nail rather than the toe itself? Or could it have been caught in something while they were wheeling me along in the bed and not noticed?

Is this something that does happen sometimes? As I say, I’m not upset about it, I just can’t work out how it happened or what happened and it’s really frustrating.

OP posts:
Burnamer · 11/05/2023 17:40

I’d say they bumped you into something.

PollyAmour · 11/05/2023 17:41

The only thing I can think of is they attached the SATS monitor to your toe, to read your blood oxygen saturation levels. That's a bit like a clamp so may have caused the injuries you describe.

HappyHamsters · 11/05/2023 17:44

You can get in touch with the hospital and ask to see your medical records to see if anything was recorded. With big toes being on the inside of your foot I don't know how they would be injured by being bumped into something. Could you get it xrayed.

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Incognito2023 · 11/05/2023 17:45

Few years back I was in hospital and passed out on the ward. When I came round my ear lobes were really hurting (weird?). I mentioned it to the nurse who said “really?” and ignored it. And obviously I let it go, no big deal, all fine five minutes after.
Later the person in next bed asked how my ears were as the nurse looking after me had been really yanking and twisting my earlobes when I passed out!
I found it funny - she was just doing it to bring me round but I’ve often wondered why she didn’t just ‘fess up and explain it…?

FurAndFeathers · 11/05/2023 17:47

PollyAmour · 11/05/2023 17:41

The only thing I can think of is they attached the SATS monitor to your toe, to read your blood oxygen saturation levels. That's a bit like a clamp so may have caused the injuries you describe.

There’s no way the SPO2 monitor would cause significant bruising like that.

there shouldn’t be anything in the theatre OP. Are you sure that you didn’t stumble or stub it whilst distracted by your acute abdomen ?

imip · 11/05/2023 17:51

How strange, I recently had a similar experience and woke with a very small inner upper arm and after a couple of days it developed into a long bruise. I thought my arm must have got caught in the side bar of the bed. But strangely after a week the same pain extended to the opposite side but without a bruise. It still hurts sometimes two months later!

ShamefulNameChange1 · 11/05/2023 19:09

I definitely didn’t stumble or anything. I was in a wheelchair from the time I arrived at A&E and my dm is adamant that I wasn’t knocked into anything while being wheeled around. She has no reason to lie and I managed to get myself from the wheelchair to the bed for the operation and am 99% sure I didn’t have an injured toe at that point.

OP posts:
Reallybadidea · 11/05/2023 19:14

The only thing I can think of is a piece of equipment being dropped on it or it getting knocked or trapped while you were being transferred from table to bed.

You're remarkably sanguine about it. There's no legitimate reason I can think of to cause that level of injury and at the very least it should have been documented and for you to be told what had happened.

Jellycats4life · 11/05/2023 19:18

How disturbing. It must be so disconcerting to know that you can’t account for it. Although I have a feeling that even if there was an accident/something negligent happened, there won’t be any record of it.

Throwncrumbs · 11/05/2023 19:53

imip · 11/05/2023 17:51

How strange, I recently had a similar experience and woke with a very small inner upper arm and after a couple of days it developed into a long bruise. I thought my arm must have got caught in the side bar of the bed. But strangely after a week the same pain extended to the opposite side but without a bruise. It still hurts sometimes two months later!

Blood pressure cuff left on your arm to long prob

imip · 11/05/2023 22:10

Makes complete sense @Throwncrumbs !

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