death due to laparoscopic rectopexy -please guide

[priyu]

Are there any natural life-threatening conditions that may occur after laproscopic rectopexy?

My father underwent laproscopic rectopexy. He had ulcers in his rectum along with rectum prolapse problem. After the surgery, his condition became critical for some unknown reasons (this is what doctors said). They took him for open surgey 4 days after the first operation and a perforation was found in his sigmoid colon, which has already caused septicemia in his body and 1 ltr. of fecal material was removed from his abdomen. After this he was on ventillator for 8 days and then he expired. Doctors operated him on the basis on 3 year old colonoscopy report. What could be the cause of perforation ? Did Doctors burn a hole while they were opearting on him and couldnt detect it? can such opeartions cause death? we are in shock please suggest!

 

[Dagger_SA]

Loudmouthme,

I am so very, very sorry for your loss and for the circumstances that surround that loss. I hope and pray you have many you can rely on for support and understanding to get you through this difficult time and through the times ahead.

Doctors make mistakes all the time...some medical professionals have cited evidence that suggest doctor mistakes (specifically, medication errors) are one of the leading causes of death in this country. It is certainly very possible this devastating scenario was the result of a doctor's inexperience, incompetence, bad luck. For your own sake of mind, you may wish to investigate further. I have no experience in doing this but suggest you start somewhere else besides the medical provider...as much as I hate to say this, an attorney specializing in medical malpractice may know where to start. They should know how to go about pulling the necessary health records and know which consultants to use in reading the medical data...but I don't know. Perhaps someone else has some personal experience with this that they can share.

The term perferation was a little red flag for me...and if they did this surgery based on a 3 year old test (if I understand you correctly) would have been another little red flag.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Bethsheba

 

[Chris Irwin]

Thanks a lot!

Is there anyone else who can guide me a little more on this. I'm quite confused, dont know how to go about it! This is definately medical negligence, but what proofs do we require to prove our point in court?

 

[Askia V]

I'm so sorry for your loss, that's a terrible tragedy.

I don't know about the surgery he had, but I do know that whenever I've had any surgery, the papers I had to sign ahead of time always included something in there about possibility of perforation of anything in close proximity to where the surgery is being performed. While laproscopy is considered generally safer than traditional cutting open with a large incision, I think it stands to reason that anytime you have to guide instruments through small spaces inside a person's body, there's a possibility that something might get knicked or scraped or even punctured. I think that for the most part, they try to take great care in being as careful as possible, but unfortunately, sometimes they make mistakes. Also, unfortunately, if something goes wrong, majority of doctors/surgeons will deny any wrongdoing.

I'm sorry I can't offer you any other info, I'm just going by personal experience of what I remember reading in the release papers. But have you considered consulting with a malpractice attorney? If you feel you need to do so, then I think you should.

 

[nc33]

Hi,

I think You are right that chances of perforation are there, thus it calls for higher degree of attention on part of doctors. If perforations are a common sight with laparoscopy, they should have confirmed there are no perforations before closing the opeartion. That's one thing. Now, unfortunately in our case perforation happened, what's more unfortunate is that doctors failed to detect it, despite our complaints that patient is feeling pain in abdomen, his abdomen is swelling and has become stone hard. He vomitted as well. Despite all this they took him for another surgery 4 days after the first one. During this 4 days gap, the fecal material assimilated with his blood and caused septicemia. Now, that's what u will call a MISTAKE?

Anyways, I found this rticle on net about Laparoscopic Rectopexy. Ita a very safe opeartion, here is the link http://www.northumbria.nhs.uk/page.asp?id=243328

A minor surgey resulted in such an awful death. He was hale and hearty at the time of opeartion.