Robotic-assisted hysterectomy results in postoperative infection
This case involves a fifty-eight-year-old female patient who presented to her Ob/Gyn complaining of post-menopausal bleeding. The patient underwent a failed dilation and curettage by a previous physician who told her that she had a thickened endometrial stripe. The patient underwent a da Vinci robotic assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for the treatment of her symptoms. Subsequently, the patient developed a severe iatrogenic infection and proximate non-healing wound from the surgical site. At the time of the patient’s first postoperative follow-up visit, the surgical wound was malodorous and purulent, which was indicative of abscess formation. The patient was sent away after this visit without any blood work ordered, or any antibiotics prescribed. As a result, the patient required wound vac treatment for approximately five weeks and nearly six months of intricate wound dressing treatment to finally close the primary wound.