Boyes Turner’s medical negligence claims solicitors secured a £90,000 settlement for a 69-year-old woman who suffered physical and psychological injuries when her bile duct was injured during keyhole gallbladder surgery. Our client was taken by ambulance to the defendant hospital’s emergency department, where she was found to have epigastric (central upper) abdominal tenderness and abnormal liver function and amylase (enzyme) blood test results. She was diagnosed with obstructive jaundice (blockage of bile flow from the liver) and acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas). She was referred to the surgical team. An ultrasound scan the next day revealed a bile duct blockage from gallstones. Surgical injury to bile duct during laparoscopic cholecystectomy She remained in pain, and three days later was advised by the surgeons that she needed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder) and a cholangiogram (an x-ray of the bile ducts) to check for bile duct stones. The surgeon’s note of the operation records that during the attempted laparoscopic cholecystectomy the common bile duct was injured. The keyhole cholecystectomy procedure was abandoned. The next day our client was told it had been abandoned because it was a difficult procedure and she was transferred by ambulance to another hospital for surgery by ‘a more experienced surgeon’. Bile leakage, sepsis and pressure sores after reconstruction surgery At the second hospital our client had increasing abdominal pain and bleeding in her abdominal drain. After a CT scan, she underwent another attempted laparoscopic cholecystectomy which was converted to open surgery, so that a Roux-en Y hepaticojejunostomy (reconstruction surgery of the biliary system) could take place to correct the previous surgical injury. Following the repair operation, she was given antibiotics and intravenous fluids. Post-operatively, our client was noted to be very unwell, vomiting bile and with bile in her drains. A CT scan revealed an ongoing bile leakage, possibly from a bowel fistula. She needed a percutaneous transhepatic cholangiogram (PTC) and suffered from infection, biliary sepsis, pressure sores and malnutrition. She needed a lengthy stay in hospital and multiple readmissions for infection. Surgical negligence claim leads to admission of liability We helped our client pursue a claim against the defendant hospital on the basis that her bile duct injury was caused by the surgeon’s negligent failure to correctly identify her anatomical structures before clipping and dividing them. If the operation had been performed using the correct surgical technique, our client would have had a successful cholecystectomy and would have made a good recovery. She would have avoided the lengthy hospital stay, the reconstruction procedure, the bile leak and the PTC, and her ongoing pain, constant nausea, fatigue and bowel problems from bile acid malabsorption. She would also have avoided her ongoing risk of further suffering from recurrent cholangitis, adhesions, anastomotic stricture, incisional hernia, and the need for further surgery. The NHS’ defence team at NHS Resolution responded to our letter of claim admitting that the injury to our client’s right posterior sectoral duct and resulting need for reconstruction surgery, percutaneous drainage of her intra-abdominal bile collection, internal investigations and cholangitis were caused by the surgeon’s negligence. £90,000 compensation settlement On receiving this admission, we invited NHS Resolution to meet with us to discuss settlement proposals at a mediation or settlement meeting and provided them with evidence supporting our valuation of our client’s claim. They responded to our invitation with a settlement offer of £68,000 which, after further negotiations resulted in an increased settlement offer of £90,000, which our client accepted. If you or a family member have suffered severe injury as a result of medical negligence or have been contacted by HSSIB/MNSI or NHS Resolution you can talk to a solicitor, free and confidentially, for advice about how to respond or make a claim by contacting us.
