A woman's legs were not "thrown in the air like some ballerina" as she lay unconscious on an operating table, a judge heard yesterday.
John Varian, a hand surgeon at the Blackrock Clinic, Dublin, said Attracta Foy, whose skin was "tissue-paper thin" because of medication she was taking, had been handled with all due care by the clinic's nursing staff.
Ms Foy (66), Rathingle, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, is suing the clinic for alleged post-operative negligence by theatre nurses who, she claims, tore skin off her legs by handling her roughly while she was still anaesthetised following a minor operation on her left hand.
Ms Foy has told her counsel, Eileen McAuley, that she had pre-warned doctors and hospital staff that her skin was "tissue-paper thin", and she would require careful handling before, during and following the operation.
She is suing the hospital for up to €38,000 damages for personal injury. She claims skin was torn from her ankles and one of her thighs by careless nursing staff.
She alleges the tears were caused while her legs were being lifted to facilitate the insertion of a pain-killing suppository.
Mr Varian, who carried out the operation to Ms Foy's hand, told Noel Cosgrove, counsel for the clinic, he would like to dispel any notion that the patient's legs had been thrown in the air like some ballerina.
He could assure Ms Foy and the court she had in no way been handled roughly.
He said Ms Foy's skin was so delicate that a mark by a ball-point pen, to indicate which arm was to be operated on, had caused bruising of the skin.
Consultant anaesthetist Alan McShane said Ms Foy had incredibly delicate skin. One of the nurses had caught Ms Foy's ankles to move her legs into a frog-like position to allow the insertion of the suppository.
Nurse Padraigeen McGarvey used a rag doll to indicate to the court how Ms Foy's legs had been lifted. She will give more detailed evidence to the court today