A surgeon mistakenly removes the woman's kidney during a routine back surgery

A Florida doctor removed a woman's kidney during a back surgery after taking it for a cancerous tumor.

Surgeon Ramon Vazquez assisted the earlier spinal fusion of Maureen Pacheco, then 51, when he removed the organ, revealed an administrative complaint.

The general surgeon was working at the Wellington Regional Medical Center in Florida when the error occurred in the spring of 2016. The hospital did not immediately respond to the call. NewsweekRequest for comments.

Vazquez noticed a mass by exposing Pacheco's pelvic area for spinal surgery. Assuming that it is a "gynecological malignancy" or similar, he "cut, cut and removed [the kidney] in its entirety, "said the Florida State Department of Health's complaint.

A pathologist later confirmed that the mass was a pelvic kidney – a normal organ outside of its location.

The complaint described accidental nephrectomy as a "medically unnecessary procedure" because it was unrelated to the condition of Pacheco's spine. The complaint, filed on December 15, 2017, could cost Vazquez a fine medical license.

A dispute in the name of Pacheco stated that Vazquez did not examine the MRI images clearly showing the pelvic kidney, The Palm Beach Post reported.

"As you can imagine, when a person undergoes a back operation, she would never expect to wake up and is told, when she just woke up from the anesthesia , that one of his kidneys was needlessly removed, "Pacheco's lawyer, Donald J Ward, recounted The post office. A trial was settled in September, reported the publication.

"The case was settled on [Vazquez’s] name for a nominal amount due to the uncertainty of the dispute and in no way [he] admit liability by accepting this regulation, "said surgeon Mark Mittelmark's lawyer at To post.

Although most people lead a healthy life with only one kidney, long-term problems such as high blood pressure and loss of kidney function can occur, reports the National Kidney Foundation.

Vertebral fusions have gained popularity in the United States in recent years. A 2012 analysis published in the journal Spine showed that the number of rejections after the merger increased from 174,223 to 413,171 between 1998 and 2008, an increase of 137%.

First performed in the 1950s, prior lumbar interbody fusion has become a treatment of choice for back pain in the 1990s, Spine-Health reported.