“Sir, I am quite worried because of our second year Resident Doctor working in the gynecological ward” our Assistant Professor told me.
“What happened?” I asked.
“We have one elderly woman in the ward awaiting vaginal hysterectomy and repair of genital prolapse. The second year resident working in that ward asked me today morning during ward round whether we should change the route of her hysterectomy from vaginal to abdominal.:
“Abdominal hysterectomy in a case of genital prolapse? It does not make sense. If the uterus has come down, it has to be removed vaginally. The repair of the prolapse is to be done vaginally anyway. What is the point in operating abdominally?” I asked.
“It seems the patient told the Resident Doctor that she wanted to undergo a sterilization operation too, since she did not want to have any more babies. The Resident Doctor thought the sterilization operation would be done by the abdominal route, so it might be better to perform hysterectomy abdominally too.”
I was awestruck. After a couple of minutes I recovered sufficiently to say “ does the Resident Doctor not realize that a woman would become sterile if she underwent a hysterectomy, that an additional sterilization operation would not be required?”
“That is the point. This Resident Doctor will be our Registrar after a couple of months. That thought has got me worried, thinking of the trouble that may cause to our patients and us.”
“That has got me worried too. “I will find some solution to the problem.” I said, knowing full well that it was easier said than done.
