A 61-year-old Hong Kong patient is in a critical condition after a feeding tube was mistakenly inserted into his airway and remained undiscovered for more than a day.
A nurse in an orthopaedic ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei had replaced the man’s feeding tube at midday on Sunday as part of normal procedures, authorities said.
But another nurse felt the need to reinsert the tube – which went to the patient’s stomach via his nose – that evening, the Hospital Authority said on Wednesday.
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An authority spokesman said the nurse followed protocol to verify the tube’s position. Feeding of formula milk to the man then resumed, followed by a chest X-ray.
However, his condition suddenly deteriorated in the early hours of Tuesday. Doctors resuscitated the patient and performed a bronchoscopy – a procedure that allowed them to look at his lungs and air passages. They then discovered the feeding tube was in his left bronchus, an airway leading to the lung.
The tube was immediately removed and the man was transferred to the high dependency unit for monitoring. He was then moved to the intensive care unit.
The patient remained in a critical condition, the spokesman said.
He said the hospital was “saddened by the incident” and had met the patient’s family to explain it.
An investigatory panel chaired by Kwong Wah Hospital chief executive Dr Tang Kam-shing has been set up to look into the cause of the blunder and will submit a report within eight weeks with recommendations for improvement.
Dr Fong Wing-chi, chief of service at Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s medicine department, is one of the five panel members.
The hospital would remain in close contact with the man’s family and continue to provide help, the spokesman added.
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