metallic clips left inside abdomen after c-section surgery. Is that normal? found out after 3 1/2 years!!

[Shaliza16]

Recently, I was in a car accident and had to get an x-ray done. The x-ray was of my upper body and the results shows back injuries and as well shows 7 metallic staple-like clips in my right abdomen. This was a shock because I had a C-section done 3 and a half years ago for my son and the surgery was not done properly, I never thought clips would be left inside. The surgeon was an emergency on-call gyneacologist and he used products and medications I was allergic to. The incision was very long and was sealed by 32 staple-like clips. The right side of the wound had a 3-inch "lip" or overlap that got infected 3 weeks after and was very painful. I was wondering if this is normal? and what should I do?

[midnightsuzie62]

Hi Shaliza,

I had an excision of my endometriosis some 10 years ago now and began having pains in my right side.  because they werent all that bad at first I dismissed them as I have become accustomed to having pain from the endo .. well the pain began to radiate around to my back so after having every xray and and test they could think of they finally put me in for a scan ... it seems i have some stainless steel clips inside me which I was not informed about before having my operation ... they are in the exact area of the pain .. but as far as my doctor is concerned it is not causing the pain ..  I asked him how did he know this for a fact ... he could not answer .. I think he mumbled something to do with noone else having problems with this ... my answer was not all people are the same when it comes to reacting to foreign objects been left in ones body.  I am looking to have mine removed as far as I am concerned the only way to find out if the clips left in my body are causing the pain is to have them removed .... will let everyone know how this goes either way ....

[AnnieBrooke]

It seems very unlikely that a large number of clips would be needed when someone has an appendix out.  It is a little dead end of intestine that could be shut with a tiny bit of sewing, it is not like it is a flaming emergency with blood spurting out.  What you are describing does not really sound like it came from your appendix operation.

[Shaliza16]

Now they are saying it left in from my appendix removal. Metal clips in the stomach??? Can someone please let me know if doctors use Metal clips after appendix removal. Thank you

[Shaliza16]

I will be going for a check-up by a referred gyneacologist. The date is in November but I'm so eager to know what is the outcome. I rarely think the pain could be from something  else. The clips are clearly shown in the x-rays I have.

I'm jus hoping to get feed back from doctors and people with similar issues so I know what to do and expect. I was very upset that they would bypass the allergy warnings!

[MarieMichele]

I'm not an expert on surgery to answer that.  The clips might have been necessary to stop bleeding where speed was a real factor.  Dissolving stitches might have taken longer or perhaps not as effective for the situation.  It's not uncommon to use these in abdominal surgery (and many other surgical procedures).  Many people set off metal detectors at airports because of these.  

While the pain could be from a clip or other factor from that surgery, I recommended a checkup by a gynecologist to make sure there are no other contributing causes such as cysts, endo, fibroids or any other condition (related to the clips or not) that could be pinching, compressing or twisting something and causing the pain that needs to be removed. At least you may learn if the clips' presence is causing you trouble or not.

If you ever need future gyn surgery, maybe clips could be removed at that time and take some of that pain away (and you want a gyn that knows you, not some emergency surgeon that is going to overdo it or ignore allergy warnings!)    

[Shaliza16]

Actually, I don't have regular check ups by a Gyneacologist. But, the only thing that can come to mind is that because of the clips inside of me is what's causing me the pain. I've been having the pain ever since my c-section.  If they were trying to seal something shouldn't they have used dissolvable sealants and notify  the patient?

I am in Physiotherapy and regularly seeing my family doctor. The medication and treatment is very helpful but I am still in alot of pain!!

[MarieMichele]

Do you get routinely checked by a gynecologist?  If not, it may be a good idea to see if the pain on the one side has a cause other than the aftermath of the surgery.  

Are you seeing a specialist regarding the back and neck injuries?  

[Shaliza16]

Yes, I agree they should have informed me but they didn't. I'm not even sure why they would have needed to use the staples or clips internally the c-section was sealed externally already by clips and I was not informed of any problems that may have ocured in my body... My hospital band had said what I was allergic to (latex and morphine) and both were used. Luckily I overcame the reactions and then had more problems after the surgery was completed! Unfortunately I am still feeling pain within my abdomen, it feels like a jab or sharp pain on that side. I was unable to figure out why because all x-ray results didn"t show anything.. Now I'm terrified about it and want to know what I should do about it. The car accident has been even worse on my body, I constantly have back and neck pain and muscle spasms and is one of the extra things to add on to my list of unfortunate events...

[MarieMichele]

I have heard of surgical staples being used internally in surgery that remain inside, so it was probably not an oversight.  They should have told you about it, though.  Sometimes people develop allergies to the metal used.  I know someone that has a titanium allergy who had to have a titanium rod used in surgery removed and replaced with a non-metallic substitute.

That sounds like a much worse than average c-section, but if it is not causing you problems now, you probably have no worries.  I hope you are not seriously injured following that car accident!