Doctors suspended after operating on wrong patient's brain, Kenyan hospital says

A neurosurgeon and medical team were suspended from a Kenyan hospital this week after a tag mix-up resulted in the wrong patient having his skull opened.

According to Kenya's Daily Nation, the incident took place last month at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. One patient required brain surgery to remove a clot and the other needed treatment for brain swelling.

Hospital staff reportedly mixed up the patients' identification tags before the surgery. Doctors only realized their mistake two hours into the surgery when they discovered there was no clot in the patient's brain that they were operating on.

After consulting a senior neurosurgeon, the operating doctor reportedly was instructed to proceed no further, clean up the area and close the head.

A source told the Daily Nation that staff had no way of knowing they were operating on the wrong patient because he was unconscious.

Both patients were reportedly in good condition following the mix-up.

In a statement Thursday, the hospital's CEO said that four medical personnel had been suspended - the neurosurgeon, ward nurse, theater receiving nurse and anesthetist.

The Daily Nation reports that the mix-up raises questions about procedures in Kenyan hospitals. Some on social media have expressed outrage over the incident.