Last updated on April 6th, 2017 at 02:05 pm

Negligent hysterectomy operation leads to blood clot

54 year old Ms K was admitted to the Woodthorpe Hospital, Nottingham, after being diagnosed with a vaginal prolapse.  Her operation, an anterior vaginal wall repair and possible vaginal hysterectomy was due to take place in August, but, due to worsening symptoms, it was brought forward to June.  A laparoscopic operation took place and was completed vaginally.

Ms K doesn’t remember a great deal of what happened after the operation, but recalls being taken to Nottingham City Hospital that evening, which she understood to be due to loss of blood.  The hospital’s notes show that around 14 hours after the operation Ms K had not passed water since it and at 7am the following morning she had developed signs of renal failure.  A further operation found a very large haematoma (blood clot) near the pelvis that was displacing the bladder along with active bleeding.  Ms K had to have a catheter fitted and stents inserted into the kidneys, after which she remained in the city hospital’s high dependency unit.

Further complications following hysterectomy

When she returned home, Mrs K was in severe pain and unable to walk properly.  She had to rely on her sister and elder daughter for help with her care, all the household activities and to look after her younger 9 year old daughter.   Further complications arose when Ms K developed pyelonephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) in late August, which led to fever and pain.  She was admitted to hospital again, where she remained for 2 days and was treated with intravenous antibiotics.  Then, following the removal of the catheter and stents in September, Ms K developed  a further episode of pyelonephritis and had to be admitted to hospital once again for another course of intravenous antibiotics and catheterisation.  Further investigation during this admission revealed what was thought to be a stone in her right kidney; most likely caused by the calcification of the stent.  She remained in hospital for several days and had to have the stone removed in December.

Graysons pursues medical negligence claim

What should have been a fairly routine operation, with a recovery time of around 4 – 6 weeks, led to Ms K being in severe pain for around 3 months and having to take 8 months off work, after initially telling her employers she would be off for a couple of weeks.  She also had to cut down her hours and gradually introduce herself back to work.  She has been left with scarring that she is very conscious of, and knows she will have for life, and so it is not surprising that she contacted Graysons to pursue the hospital for compensation.

Graysons wrote to the hospital alleging that the hysterectomy had been performed negligently.  Initially the hospital denied fault, but following the issue of court proceedings the hospital admitted full liability and settled Ms K’s claim for £35,000.  Ms K was delighted with the outcome.

If you have received medical treatment from doctors, nurses, dentists or other health service workers, and you believe that it was not up to the required standard and suffered or were injured as a result, you may be able to claim medical negligence compensation.  Contact our medical negligence experts now for help and advice.  You can also visit our medical negligence web pages.