Doctors at an Irish hospital accidentally operated on the wrong testicle during surgery on a patient who had gone under the knife for a procedure on his genitalia, it has emerged.
The incident was one of four ‘wrong-site’ surgeries that took place in acute hospitals during the past two years, with doctors also operating on a patient’s incorrect leg in 2024.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has described the “low” number of such incidents over the two-year period as “encouraging”. However, a patient advocacy group criticised this stance and said wrong-site surgery should never happen.
“Four patients underwent operations on the wrong part of their body. For those four people and their families, there is nothing encouraging about it,” said Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients Association.
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The wrong-site surgeries took place at four different hospitals. In 2024, incidents were reported at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown; Nenagh Hospital in Tipperary; and Croom Orthopaedic Hospital in Limerick.
Last year, one wrong-site surgery occurred at St Luke’s General Hospital in Kilkenny, where the affected body part was in the patient’s mouth, which can include teeth, lips and throat, according to HSE records.
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The records show wrong-site surgery was performed on “reproductive organs/genitalia” at one of the hospitals in 2024. It is understood doctors operated on a patient’s healthy testicle by mistake in this incident.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said it could not comment on individual cases.
A wrong-site incident occurs when any surgery is performed on a body part not described in the documented consent provided by the patient. It includes surgery performed on the correct body part but in the wrong location.
These incidents can have catastrophic results. In 2008, a boy at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital had his healthy left kidney removed by a surgeon instead of his poorly functioning right kidney.
A State Claims Agency review previously found that 25 claims in respect of wrong-site surgery had been settled between 2016 and 2020, costing taxpayers more than €6 million.
The data released by the HSE under the Freedom of Information Act excludes a number of “near-miss” incidents, where damage was prevented by “timely intervention or chance”.
The HSE spokeswoman said reporting incidents and serious events provides an opportunity to review what happened, learn from mistakes and explain it to the people affected.
“Reporting is mandatory for staff, and the low number of incidents is encouraging, while we aim to prevent all such incidents,” she said.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients Association noted wrong-site surgery is classed as a “never event”, meaning it is the kind of mistake that should never happen.
“We call on the HSE to review the implementation of surgical safety protocols across all acute hospitals and to report publicly on the findings,” said McMahon.
