Man's bowel perforation claim settled against hospital

A man whose bowel was perforated during an operation to remove his appendix has settled his claim against the hospital where the surgery was carried out.

The man had been suffering from abdominal pain and went to see his GP who suspected appendicitis. 

He attended his local A&E Department and a laparoscopic removal of his appendix was performed the following morning. However, the removed appendix was noted to look normal.

After the operation the man began to decline with severe abdominal pain which continued over the next three days.

A further surgical exploration was carried out and a great deal of infection was found within the abdominal cavity. 

The surgeon found a perforation of the gut which was repaired. 

There then followed a very long period of recovery and in that period the man’s abdomen had to be left open to allow it to heal.

He was unable to return to his work for a very long period and suffered a significant abdominal scar.  The loss of musculature in his abdomen meant that he was unable to get back to playing football, his main hobby.

Henry Dyson, solicitor in the Clinical Negligence Department at Leigh Day said: “Whilst any surgery involves an element of risk, the issue in the case was whether it could be said to have been reasonable to injure our client’s bowel while performing the appendectomy.

“We are pleased that the case settled after an exchange of letters, in accordance with the clinical negligence pre-action protocol, without the need for lengthy proceedings.

“Our client received compensation to cover his time off work and for his pain and suffering during the period since his operation.”