what caused this burn DURING surgery?

[ChristopherTalken]

I had abdo surgery - was a big one. A few days later one of the ICU nurses went 'Oooh whats that!!' looking at my chest, but her face dropped and she just walked off.
When I was a bit more with it, I could see a burn mark, about an inch long, just under my collarbone and near where my neck port line was. It was a blister which then crusted over and now I have a noticeable scar.
Every time I asked what it was, I got a really non committal 'Dont know!'. No one seem to be bothered by the burn mark.

I dont really care tbh, I am grateful that the talented staff got me through the op alive, but ....what could have caused a burn during surgery? Any hospital staff able to give an idea?

Not hospital staff but I would guess they'd used an electrical wand thing to cauterise where they were cutting and dropped it on you?

The staff are being extremely evasive.
When Theatre handed you back to the Ward, a written comment should have been made in the handover notes. The Ward staff receiving you back should have been made aware, no question.
You definitely should have been informed.
A similar thing happened to my husband. Poor record keeping meant that Theatre blamed the Ward for the lesion, and vice versa.
This was in a private hospital, for full disclosure.

Could it be an allergy to tape? My friend recently had surgery on her back and her whole face swelled up from the tape.

Demand to know

Possibly the diathermy pad although it would be an unusual placement. It could be the ECG electrode or just from a surgical tape Ask them as it should be documented in your records related to skin integrity.

You would have been draped so only the surgical site bare. Likely to be from something like tape or tubes IMO OP. And if it crusted over quickly, shouldn’t scar.

I would definitely like an answer though but it doesn’t need to be adversarial with demands etc. there are much less negative ways to get full answers!

I genuinely think this is next to impossible. Electro-cautery isn’t on all the time like an iron and it doesn’t get hot. Also OP should have been draped to maintain a sterile field. If it was abdo surgery, the collarbone might as well be in the next room. Instruments wouldn’t get passed over it like that and there wouldn’t be bare skin.

very odd.

I had a port inserted into my neck - related perhaps?

Possibly a reaction to adhesive used? The midwives got me to remove one dressing as soon as possible after my c section as they said a reaction was likely - and I did get blisters. I think they healed okay in time.

Nothing used in port insertion gets hot. I agree it’s most likely to be a reaction to some form of chemical - something like a swab or adhesive.