An Adelaide cardiothoracic surgeon told a coronial inquest he was horrified by the idea he had removed part of a man's lung, after learning a biopsy sample had been cross-contaminated at the SA Pathology laboratory.
Broken Hill man Dennis "Jacko" Charles Jackson died from pneumonia in January 2019.
In the months prior, the 67-year-old had travelled to the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) for a biopsy.
His biopsy sample became cross-contaminated with the cancerous tissue of another patient at the SA Pathology laboratory, which led to Mr Jackson being incorrectly diagnosed with lung cancer.
He then underwent "unnecessary" surgery to remove part of his lung in August 2018.
The inquest heard on Thursday that cardiothoracic surgeon James Edwards had performed more than 1,000 lobectomies before Mr Jackson's, and performed at least one every few weeks.
He told the inquest that when it became apparent that the pathology findings were incorrect, he was "horrified" by the idea he had taken out a non-malignant lobe from his lung.
Dr Edwards told the inquest he would not have performed the surgery had he known Mr Jackson did not actually have cancer.
Reason vocal cords damaged unclear
In his testimony, he said Mr Jackson's lung function "was not perfect" and his impaired lung function was observed during the operation.
The hearing previously learned that Mr Jackson had sustained nerve damage to his vocal cords following the procedure and possibly because of a "surgical error".
But Dr Edwards told the inquest the damage to Mr Jackson's recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) could be because of prolonged ventilation and the insertion of a tracheostomy tube in intensive care.
He said he did not believe he would have caused damage surgically to the RLN and that he did not believe he went anywhere near the nerve during the operation.
"I don't want to sit here and say it's impossible … but I didn't think I did," he said.
"There are a whole range of other reasons which could have caused that nerve to not function properly.
"The intensive care unit discharge summary talks about vocal cord palsy, in other words, the vocal cord not working properly.
"And they very clearly say that they think the most likely reason for the vocal cord not working properly is because of prolonged ventilation in intensive care and the insertion of a tracheostomy tube in intensive care."
However, Dr Edwards told the inquest that damage to the RLN could have been related to the surgery, as it was a recognised complication.
He also told the inquest that findings from a microlaryngoscopy indicated that Mr Jackson's vocal cord was not paralysed but it was sluggish.
"So the nerve was still working because it was moving a bit, just not normally," he said.
He said Mr Jackson's "poor vocal cord" also had a tube stuck in it for many days.
The inquest before Deputy Coroner White continues.
