Patient has wrong leg amputated at clinic in Austria

A hospital in Austria amputated the wrong leg of a patient in a “tragic mistake” it blamed on human error.

An 82-year-old patient who was suffering from a number of illnesses was admitted at the Freistadt Clinic in a town of the same name, near the Czech border. He was supposed to get his left leg amputated, in what would have been a regular procedure for the hospital.

However, following what the hospital has called “a sequence of unfortunate circumstances”, the elderly patient’s right leg was removed instead.

The Freistadt Clinic issued a statement on Thursday admitting to the incident and expressing their “shock”.

“We are deeply shocked that on Tuesday, 18 May, despite quality assurance standards, the wrong leg of an 82-year old man… was amputated,” the clinic said.

The incident only came to light after hospital staff began performing a scheduled bandage change of the leg on Thursday morning.

The clinic said the error appears to have been made shortly before the operation when the leg that was to be amputated was marked.

“Unfortunately the mistake, in which the right leg was removed instead of the left, occurred as a result of a sequence of unfortunate circumstances,” it said, adding that it was investigating what happened and would review its standards.

The patient has been offered psychological assistance and must still undergo another operation to remove his left leg from the mid-thigh.

“The operation is planned shortly,” the clinic said.

This isn’t the first time such a case has come to light – indeed, only in March this year, St Lucia’s OKEU hospital said it was investigating a report of a similarly mistaken leg amputation. According to local media reports, the hospital cut off a woman’s good leg by accident.