The woman was discharged the next day, although she claimed to be in severe pain. Six days after the surgery, she called the defendant to report difficulty catching her breath. She was sent to her primary care clinician’s office, where she expressed additional complaints of fever and abdominal pain.
Three days later, the patient called the surgeon with continuing complaints of poor appetite and difficulty breathing and walking. She was directed to present to the emergency department (ED), where a 2.5-inch perforation of the sigmoid colon was discovered. The woman was required to undergo removal of a nine-inch segment of the bowel and primary reattachment of the remaining colon.
The plaintiff claimed that the colon was perforated during the attempted ovarectomy and that the defendant surgeon was negligent in failing to diagnose and repair the perforation at that time. The plaintiff alleged that the delay in diagnosis and treatment led to the subsequent surgery, loss of part of the bowel, and development of irritable bowel syndrome.
The defendant denied that any injury to the colon was detectable during the surgery he performed and claimed that the perforation occurred later.
A defense verdict was returned.