Case study: Clarke Willmott has successfully obtained £56,000 for a client

Our Medical Negligence team recently acted for a client who suffered from complications after a surgeon failed to remove her entire appendix

On 9 August 2019 EH had a call with her GP. She was noted to be suffering from severe abdominal pain which had been present for the past 2 days. She had been vomiting a lot. She was seen that morning by her GP who referred her to hospital with a suspected diagnosis of appendicitis. She was seen in hospital that afternoon and a CT scan was ordered. The CT scan confirmed the diagnosis of appendicitis and she was noted to be for theatre the following day. At that point the appendix appeared not to have perforated.

Surgery was eventually performed at 13:30 on 10 August 2019. It was noted during surgery that the appendix had perforated and that there was pus in the pelvis. The surgery was noted to have taken less than an hour. The histology noted that the disrupted appendix measured 51x6mm. Following the surgery EH remained unwell. Her CRP was raised. On 12 August 2019 it was noted that she was still suffering from tenderness in the abdomen, and was apyrexial and struggling to mobilise.

A further CT scan was done on 13 August and showed that there was a small amount of fluid in the abdomen and pelvis. She was taken to surgery again at 17:00 that day where she underwent a diagnostic laparoscopy which was converted to open surgery. It was discovered that she had a 2cm appendix stump with faecolith eroding through the stump. The faecolith was removed but the decision was made to convert to open surgery because the surgeon was unable to identify the site of erosion of the faecolith via laparoscopic surgery. Histology from this surgery confirmed the removal of an irregular piece of tissue measuring 40x25x15mm.

Following the second surgery EH made a slow but uneventful recovery and was discharged home on 18 August 2019. She has since been diagnosed with a hernia as a result of the need to undergo open surgery to complete the appendicectomy on 13 August 2019

As a result of the need for additional surgery, EH suffered significant stress and depression. She ended up leaving her job where she had been for over 13 years.

The Defendant admitted both breach of duty and causation and the parties were able to reach a relatively prompt settlement of this case.

Contact a medical negligence solicitor

If you’ve suffered as a result of a surgical mistake and want to discuss making a medical negligence claim, call us now on 0800 316 8892 or contact us online.