A MACCLESFIELD surgeon has admitted that he didn’t spot internal bleeding prior to the death of a gastric-bypass patient.
Mother-of-two Susan Wrighton, 59, died on May 30 last year, after complications following the keyhole procedure at the private Spire Regency Hospital, on West Street.
Consultant surgeon William Andrew Brough "missed" spotting an internal bleed, the Macclesfield Town Hall inquest heard.
The inquest heard Mrs Wrighton had decided to have surgery after her weight went up to 17st 4lb, causing chronic back pain and a loss of mobility after suffering severe whiplash in a car crash in the late 1980s.
She believed stomach-stapling surgery would help her lose weight and gain mobility. But she died after complications surgeons "had never seen or heard of before".
Days after the operation, husband Brian Wrighton, 64, told the inquest, his wife was screaming in agony. He said: "She was shouting ‘Don’t let them touch me again it’s hurting’. I got upset and the doctors took me out of the room."
Later on a nurse returned to the room and asked if he wanted to see his wife.
"I was taken to the side of the bed and someone was pumping on Susan’s chest as I was sat there, but she was gone."
The inquest heard that after the first operation, performed by surgeon Chris Royston on May 28, Mrs Wrighton bled from staples in her stomach and had an abnormal pulse rate.
The following day consultant surgeon William Brough performed a second operation to identify the problem but it wasn’t until May 30, after the third operation, that he found Mrs Wrighton had suffered a bleed. In a statement, surgeon Chris Royston said: "It’s a complication I’ve never heard of before or experienced and have no knowledge of it in literature."
The inquest was told most internal bleeding can be detected by the procedures carried out on Mrs Wrighton after she had undergone surgery. When Dr William Brough opened Mrs Wrighton’s stomach he was ‘amazed’ to find a clot of blood.
He said with an internal bleed the blood normally passes through the body and is easily spotted.
Dr Brough added: "I missed the bleed from a staple line which was intact. I never get out of bed to do harm to anybody. We had a bleed and I didn’t get it until the third operation."
Coroner Dr Janet Napier recorded a verdict of death from adult respiratory death syndrome – which is where the lungs fill with fluid and can no longer function – following abdominal surgery.
After the inquest, Verlie Brazel, hospital director of Spire Regency, said: "The hospital team who looked after Mrs Wrighton were deeply saddened by her unexpected death, and our thoughts go out to her family. Whilst it is important to be aware that any surgery carries with it a degree of risk, the hospital nevertheless immediately and thoroughly investigated the care given to Mrs Wrighton. We can confirm that Mrs Wrighton was initially operated on by Mr Royston, and assisted by Mr William Brough, consultant surgeon. Following surgery Mr Brough took over Mrs Wrighton’s care. We can confirm that the death of Mrs Wrighton is the only death following obesity surgery at Spire Regency. We are confident that our procedures are robust – indeed this was reflected in the coroner's findings, which found no fault with Spire Regency."
