A routine medical scan in China turned into a frightening ordeal after a patient was reportedly left inside an MRI machine for several hours due to a hospital oversight.
The incident took place at a hospital in Wuhan, where a man surnamed Tang had gone to seek medical attention for neck pain. What was supposed to be a quick 20-minute diagnostic scan reportedly stretched into a six-hour nightmare after staff failed to remove him from the machine.
According to reports by Global Times, Tang was only discovered early the next morning when a cleaning worker heard him calling for help. The incident has since triggered public concern about hospital procedures and patient safety standards.
The hospital involved has apologised and launched an internal review after acknowledging serious lapses in staff handover protocols.
Routine MRI Scan Turns Into Hours Of Distress
Tang had visited the hospital to investigate persistent soreness in his neck and was advised to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to determine the cause.
He arrived for the scan on Feb. 26 and lay down on the examination table as instructed. Medical staff secured his head in position and placed a mask over his face before sliding him into the MRI machine.
Expecting the scan to last roughly 20 minutes, Tang initially believed everything was proceeding normally.
However, after about half an hour, he began to feel uneasy when the scan did not appear to be ending. He reportedly called out, asking why the procedure was taking so long, but received no response from medical staff.
Tang continued to call out to see if anyone was monitoring the machine, but again there was no reply.
Patient Afraid To Free Himself While Machine Was Running
Realising something was wrong, Tang briefly considered trying to free himself from the machine.
However, he decided against doing so as the MRI scanner was still operating and producing loud mechanical noises. Concerned that attempting to move could result in injury, he chose to remain in place.
The patient reportedly spent hours trapped inside the machine overnight while repeatedly crying out for assistance.
He remained in the scanner until approximately 6am the following morning when a cleaning worker heard his voice and alerted security staff.
By that time, Tang’s wife had already contacted the police after becoming worried when she could not reach him.
Hospital Admits Staff Failed To Follow Handover Procedures
Hospital officials later explained that the incident occurred due to a breakdown in communication between medical staff during a shift change.
The attending doctor reportedly placed Tang inside the MRI machine before leaving to handle other tasks. Before ending her shift, she informed a colleague that Tang was still undergoing the scan but mistakenly marked the procedure as completed in the system.
The colleague who took over later failed to check whether the patient was still inside the scanner, leading to Tang being unintentionally left behind.
According to the hospital’s statement, staff involved had violated internal handover procedures, which contributed to the serious oversight.
Those responsible for the error have since been suspended while the hospital conducts a wider review of its medical protocols and patient monitoring systems.
The facility has also issued a formal apology to Tang for the distress caused by the incident, which has sparked widespread discussion online about hospital safety procedures and accountability in healthcare settings.