What Doctors Don't Tell You About Tubal Ligation and Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome by, Susan Bucher © 2006 Buy a copy for yourself or for someone you know   click here for more information

Artery Cut During TL, 2-4 Mos. Recovery Time Now?

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Hi, I just found this website and I'm wondering if anyone has had this complication. To start, I'm 42 and I just had a laparascopic TL on Oct 11, 2006. I went into the out-patient OR at 9:30 in the morning and didn't wake up in Recovery until approximately 3 pm that afternoon. I remember I was shivering. They told me I'd had a complication, I had bled excessively, and they admitted me to the hospital overnight for observation. At one in the morning my OB-GYN came to check on me and she told me she'd cut open a vein during the procedure and that another surgeon was called in to take over. She said that once I was able to stand up and go to the bathroom, I could be discharged. She said I'd go home the following morning and I could return to work on Monday (5 days later). She also warned me I had excessive bruising on my abdomen. And that's all she said.

It hurt tremendously to get out of bed but I was able to do it at 3 am with the help of a nurse. I got up by myself two more times before they discharged me Thursday morning at 9 am. I was told to call the doctor if I began to bleed from the side. I didn't even realize until then that I had an extra incision on the side of my abdomen.

Not until a week later, during my Post-OP visit to the doctor's office was I told that they had cut open an artery "that wasn't supposed to be there" and a general surgeon had been called in to perform vascular surgery. He apparently made an incision in the side of my lower belly and used a device to suture the artery and stop the excessive bleeding. After he was done they continued the TL.

This morning, Oct. 27, I went again for a second Post-OP and I told the doctor that the incision by the general surgeon is causing me a lot of pain. I can't get out of bed easily, can't roll over in bed without causing a major production, can't lift anything heavy or squat down, and when I walk I tend to hold my hand over my belly because I literally feel like everything is going to fall out. I started to wonder if I had a hernia. The doctor told me this morning that I have staples and sutures in my abdominal wall and that's what is causing the pain. I was told that this pain will last for another two to four months.

I'm feeling very angry that no one warned me about this when I was discharged. I'm angry that the doctor told me she cut a vein, only to find out a week later by her colleague that it was actually an artery. From my understanding, cutting off an artery can lead to complications later in life. He said he doesn't even know which artery it was or where it led. I'm having a really hard time understanding how doctors can just take a knife to me and not know what they are cutting! Has anyone had this happen too? I'm wondering if I should consult an attorney or if this is just a "mishap" as the doctor has suggested.

Posted on Oct 27, 2006, 5:21 PM

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