A woman has claimed her skin was torn from parts of her legs and ankles by members of the nursing staff at Blackrock Clinic, Co Dublin.
Barrister Eileen McAuley told the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that Attracta Foy's injuries had occurred while she was still under anaesthetic following a minor operation on her left wrist.
Ms McAuley told Mr Justice Esmond Smyth the operation had successfully been carried out by a surgeon at the clinic in August 2004. When Ms Foy (66), Rathingle, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, was brought out of the anaesthetic she discovered bruising and tears to her skin.
Ms McAuley said Ms Foy was alleging post-operative negligence by theatre nurses who, she claimed, had roughly handled her legs and ankles during the insertion of an analgesic suppository following surgery.
Noel Cosgrove, counsel for Blackrock Clinic, told the court his client would be fully defending the proceedings.
Ms Foy said she suffered from emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for which, in order to stay alive, she used an inhaler and two prescribed medications which contained steroids.
She told Ms McAuley that the thinning of her skin had been caused as a side effect of the steroids and the skin on her legs and arms and hands had become "tissue-paper thin". Ms Foy said she constantly had to avoid brushing against people or objects and avoided such things as shaking hands.
She said that before undergoing the operation on a tendon in her wrist, she had answered questions in a pre-operative form outlining the delicate nature of her skin.
She believed the medical staff would have realised that extreme care would have to be taken with regard to her skin.
Ms Foy said that when she woke up following the operation, she had to stop a nurse pulling taped electrodes off her chest because of the danger to her skin.
It was only later that she discovered the skin on her legs and ankles had been bruised and broken. She described her "wounds" as terrible and dreadful looking.
Noreen Roche, an independent nursing consultant, said Ms Foy had declined the traditional handshake with theatre nursing staff before the operation.
Bearing this in mind, and the information contained on the pre-operative documentation, the nursing staff should have exercised extreme caution in moving her legs.
She said a risk assessment with regard to the handling of her skin ought to have been carried out, and if her legs required lifting for the purpose of inserting the painkilling suppository the nurse should have used a theatre towel to do so.