HSE apologises to woman’s family over death during ‘routine’ surgery

The HSE has offered its “sincerest apologies” to the family of a woman who died after her jugular vein was torn during a routine surgical procedure.

The apology came as a verdict of medical misadventure was returned at the inquest into the death of Theresa Lyons (76) at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on December 29th, 2016.

Geraldine O’Brien, Ms Lyons’s daughter, told Limerick Coroner’s Court that on the day her mother died, her family was told to leave her alone in a “hugely overcrowded” emergency department at the hospital as there was room only for patients.

The inquest heard Ms Lyons, of Granville Park, Limerick, had a history of diabetes, and had presented at the hospital on December 29th, 2016 as she was vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea.

Her condition worsened and Ms Lyons underwent a “renal replacement therapy” procedure after her kidneys failed. The inquest heard it was a routine procedure with a very low risk to the patient.

Dr Andras Mikor, then a senior registrar at UHL, carried out the procedure and said he sought assistance when he was unable to remove a surgical wire guide inserted into Ms Lyons’s neck to deliver fluids and medication.

The inquest heard that when the wire was removed, it was found to have “a kink” in it, which it was accepted had probably “snagged” on Ms Lyons’s right internal jugular vein and caused it to tear.

Ms Lyons was later pronounced dead after attempts to drain fluids and perform CPR failed. A postmortem concluded death was due to hypovolemic shock as a result of a tear to the right internal jugular vein.

Not informed

Ms O’Brien said family members remained in the waiting room at the hospital throughout the day, but were not informed Ms Lyons had been moved to the intensive care unit or was due to undergo surgery.

She said the family felt “stonewalled” and “dismissed” by the HSE whenever they attempted to get information relating to their mother’s medical treatment. Ms O’Brien said the family was invited to a meeting with hospital management last year and it was agreed this should not have happened.

Ms O’Brien said she and her siblings feel “guilty” because they never got a chance to say goodbye to their mother.

Coroner John McNamara said a verdict of medical misadventure “does not carry any implications” for the clinicians involved in Ms Lyons’s treatment, who told the inquest they had done their best to “fix her”.