Man wakes up after surgery to find he has mistakenly been given a vasectomy instead of a gall bladder op

A man woke up to find he had been given a vasectomy by mistake after going into hospital for a gall bladder operation in Argentina.

Medics are thought to have made the gaffe after delaying Jorge Base’s surgery by 24 hours from last Tuesday until last Wednesday, which is the day of the week gall bladder ops are never performed at the medical centre.

The 41-year-old told Argentinian TV channel El Doce: ‘I have three grown-up boys… but I was dreaming of having a girl.

‘Doctors have already explained to me the possibilities of reversing the error are minimal.

‘I feel so angry and helpless. I can’t understand how they made such a mistake when it had gallbladder written all over my medical records.

‘I’d like to find a solution but the solution the health professionals are giving me is artificial insemination if I want to father another child.’

The medical error occurred at state-run Florencio Diaz Hospital in the city of Cordoba. a seven-hour drive north-west of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires.

Jorge’s lawyer Diego Larrey said: ‘My client wanted to die when he came round and realised he’d been given a vasectomy.

‘The hospital ended up performing the gall bladder operation the same day which was the only one he should have undergone.

‘That operation should have taken place last Tuesday and was reprogrammed to the following day at 9am.’

He added: ‘My client wasn’t asked anything when he arrived at hospital which surprised him. They put his gown on him and took him to the operating theatre.

‘A nurse was the one who told him a mistake had been made when he came round after the op.

‘The confusion apparently occurred because on Wednesday they don’t do gall bladder operations at the hospital and he ended up in the list of people in for vasectomies by mistake.’

Confirming Jorge was planning to start a family with his new partner, Mr Larrey said: ‘No-one from the hospital or the local health authority has contacted me.’

The 41-year-old said: ‘I have three grown-up boys… but I was dreaming of having a girl. Doctors have already explained to me the possibilities of reversing the error are minimal’ (File Photo)

In May last year a doctor was ordered to pay child support to a couple in Medellin, Colombia, until their baby turns 18 after botching a vasectomy on the father.

The couple – who were not named – were stunned to discover that the man had got the woman pregnant after he underwent a vasectomy at a health clinic.

The father had decided to have the procedure in 2012 to avoid having more children with his wife because they did not have enough income.

He even underwent an examination at the clinic to ensure that the vasectomy had been effective, with the clinic confirming that it had.

But after discovering that his wife was pregnant, the couple, who already had two children, took the doctor and the health clinic to court in 2017.

After a lengthy legal battle during which the parents argued that they had unwillingly become parents again on October 1, 2013 due to an incorrect medical procedure, the judge ruled that the doctor and the health authority in charge of the clinic must pay court fees and child support totalling COP 295 million (£59,517) until the baby turns 18.