A 62-year old man, who remains unnamed, lost his right testicle after National Health Service doctor Ashutosh Jain failed to perform a routine surgery safely. An ongoing investigation into the matter by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) will come to an end in October. The investigation points out that Jain's negligence caused complications and other doctors had to remove the testicle due to an infection.

After being diagnosed with hydrocele by a general practitioner, the man opted for a hydrocele repair surgery. At Furness General Hospital in Barrow, Cumbria, the man was to have the short 30-minute procedure to drain the excess fluid from the region.

Hydrocele causes fluid to accumulate around the testicle causing swelling. A simple surgical procedure involves a needle to be inserted and the fluid to be drained. In most cases, patients are able to return home the day they get the procedure done. However, after performing the surgery, Jain did not remove the syringe from the testicle. This error forced the man to spend 12 days in the hospital instead of returning home the same day.

A hospital nurse
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The Daily Mail reports how the man recalled being taken back into surgery a day after the procedure took place. According to the patient, he was not informed about why he was being taken in for the second surgery. When he returned from the second surgery, he noticed that one of his testicles was missing.

Since the syringe had been left attached to the testicle for over 24 hours, it had caused an infection. Doctors had no choice but to amputate the right testicle to get rid of the infection.

The aggrieved patient reported the incident to UHMBT after he got released from the hospital. In July, UHMBT noted the case as a "serious clinical incident." The hospital authorities are investigating the initial surgery as well as the subsequent surgery during which the testicle was removed.

The medical director of UHMBT, Shahedal Bari, has extended his apologies to the patient and has assured that the patient will be notified at every stage of the investigation.

NHS