A U.K. man who thought he was going under for a bladder examination woke up to a surprise – he had been circumcised, in a stunning procedure mix-up.
The Leicester hospital was supposed to perform a cystoscopy – examining the man's bladder using a small camera – but instead removed his foreskin, according to a report by British daily the Independent.
The surgeons reportedly mixed up the man's medical notes with another patient who was scheduled to have a circumcision last September.
The hospital said it personally apologized to the patient, but did not give further details as to how the disturbing incident could have happened.
The mix-up was one of eight critical errors made by staff at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in 2018, according to a report by Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group.
Other mistakes included a hip nail being implanted on the wrong side, a swab left behind inside a child patient after a surgery and a name mix-up that resulted in a patient having the wrong operation.
"We remain deeply and genuinely sorry to those patients involved, and of course we have personally apologised to each one," Director of Safety and Risk at Leicester's Hospitals Moira Durbridge said, adding that the hospital is prioritizing improvements in the coming year.
