Woman loses hands and feet after cystectomy: $109M award
On November 1, a 45-year-old woman underwent laparoscopic excision of a benign ovarian cyst performed by a minimally invasive gynecologic (MIG) surgeon. After surgery, the patient’s blood pressure (BP) declined. She was given fluids, but her BP remained low. The next day, she became incoherent and her BP could not be stabilized. Twenty-seven hours after surgery, the 5-cm umbilical incision opened while the patient was attempting to stand up from the commode. A large amount of bloody discharge drained.
At 11:00 pm that day, her BP was so low that it could not be measured, and septic shock was suspected. She was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), but soon went into organ failure. ICU physicians suggested that she have an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan but she had to be stabilized before transport; they administered vasopressors.
At 4:30 pm the next day, the surgeon called for a trauma surgery consult. The trauma surgeon immediately ordered exploratory surgery and cancelled the use of vasopressors. During surgery, he found a separation in her small intestine leading to the development of necrotizing fasciitis. He resected the injured intestine and areas affected by the bacteria, including abdominal muscles and wall.
The patient remained unconscious from the time of the exploratory operation until the end of January. She required additional surgeries to control the bacteria as well as amputation of both hands above the wrists and both feet above the ankles due to gangrene. Because she no longer had an abdominal wall, a skin sac was created to hold her intestines outside of her body. When a fistula developed, a colostomy was performed.
She went to a Maryland hospital for rehab, where she learned to walk with prosthetic feet and to use her prosthetic hands. Currently, she has constant abdominal pain, can walk a short distance, and uses a wheelchair. She requires 24/7 assistance for everyday tasks. She can no longer work and is on disability.
PATIENT’S CLAIM: The patient sued the university health system that employed the MIG surgeon. During the cystectomy, he almost completely transected her small intestine, but did not find the injury during surgery. This allowed bacteria to enter the abdominal cavity, causing sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis. The trauma surgeon referred to the injury as an enterotomy, not a tear.
During the procedure, the surgeon used ADEPT, a solution to prevent the formation of adhesions. The patient’s ObGyn expert concluded that ADEPT created an environment that allowed the necrotizing fasciitis to flourish.
The ICU physicians concluded that the patient was stable enough to be transported for a CT scan, but the surgeon repeatedly delayed the procedure and did not call for a surgical consult until 12 hours later. Had the CT scan or exploratory surgery occurred earlier, the diagnosis would have been discovered, and the bacteria would have been prevented from spreading. She would not have required extensive doses of vasopressors, which increase BP by cutting off blood circulation to the 4 extremities. In this case, use of vasopressors led to gangrene and the subsequent amputations.
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