Hyderabad: Three women who underwent caesarean sections (C-Section) at a govt hospital in Banswada, Kamareddy, earlier this month, have been shifted to the intensive care unit at Hyderabad’s Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), after they developed serious complications during the procedure.While the condition of two women is currently stable, one patient continues to be critical, doctors said. Two other women, who were brought to NIMS along with them, have recovered and discharged on Monday.According to doctors, all the patients – in their mid-20s – suffered from low urine output, drastically low platelet count and kidney-related issues after they were operated upon on July 10 and 11. They were shifted to NIMS last week when their condition started to deteriorate.The incident has, meanwhile, triggered an official inquiry, with authorities suspending C-sections at the govt Mother and Child Hospital in Banswada, until investigations are completed.Speaking to TOI, NIMS medical superintendent Dr N Satyanarayana said that the three women — Ruksana, Umera and Jyothi — have “infection-related complications”. “Ruksana is critical and might need a few more dialysis sessions. Umera and Jyothi, however, have shown significant improvement. They are likely to be shifted out of the intensive care unit in the next few days,” he added.The superintendent of the Banswada hospital, Dr M Vijay Bhaskar, said 10 C-sections were performed at the hospital over the two days. Of them, two women operated on July 10 and three operated on July 11 developed complications.“The first patient developed low urine output and was referred to the govt general hospital in Nizamabad. Over the next two days, four more women developed similar symptoms and were also referred,” he said.As their condition failed to improve, all five were shifted to Hyderabad for higher-level care. The women later developed low platelet counts along with urinary and kidney-related complications.Following the incident, the hospital has not only stalled all C-sections but even sent medicines, intravenous fluids and other materials used during the surgeries to the laboratory for testing. Preliminary sterility tests conducted on the operation theatre and IV fluids reportedly showed no contamination.An inquiry committee comprising senior gynaecologists has collected case records, while officials from Telangana Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (TGMSIDC) inspected the labour room and operation theatre.“The inquiry committee questioned nursing staff and other hospital personnel, but no evidence of negligence has been established so far. Senior health authorities are expected to take a final decision after the investigation report is submitted. Samples of medicines used during surgeries have also been collected by the drug inspector for analysis,” said a senior health official.While doctors at NIMS raised suspicion over the medicines used, hospital authorities stressed that the exact cause of the complications remains unknown and cautioned against drawing conclusions until the inquiry is completed.Meanwhile, two newborns delivered during the period were admitted to Niloufer Hospital for physiological jaundice but were discharged after treatment.How the infection happened?It was initially suspected that the intravenous (IV) fluids used during the surgeries could have contributed to the complications. However, samples of all IV fluids were collected and sent for culture tests. However, no bacterial growth was detected.Another possibility being examined was contamination from external elements or microorganisms in the operation theatre (OT). “Swab samples collected from the OT and sent for microbiological analysis also tested negative, with officials stating that the OT environment was sterile,” a senior health official.On Monday, all drugs used during the surgeries—including anaesthesia drugs, antibiotics and other medicines—were handed over to the Drug Inspector. “The samples will be tested to assess their quality, potency and compliance with prescribed standards as part of the ongoing investigation,” said the official.
