Hysterectomy rate unusually high

The rate at which Caesarean hysterectomies were carried out at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital was much higher than in other maternity…

The rate at which Caesarean hysterectomies were carried out at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital was much higher than in other maternity units, the report found.

It said an initial examination by the former North Eastern Health Board after news of the controversy broke found that 32 hysterectomies were carried out at the hospital between 1995 and 1997 compared to just one over this period in Cavan hospital and two at Monaghan hospital. While Cavan and Monaghan had fewer deliveries, this did not explain the different rate at which hysterectomies were carried out.

The report also said that during the 1980s and 1990s the rate of peripartum hysterectomy at the Lourdes hospital "far exceeded the worst figures" at the three Dublin maternity hospitals, even though rates of delivery at each of the Dublin hospitals were three times higher.

Overall, the report found a total of 188 peripartum hysterectomies were carried out at the maternity unit of the Lourdes hospital between 1974 and 1998. Some 129 of them could be attributed to Dr Michael Neary, with 25 of them on women having their first baby and 26 on women having their second child. Two of the women were just 19 years old.

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The other 59 hysterectomies could be attributed to either one of the other three consultants working there over the 25 years, the report said.

The report also said one peripartum hysterectomy was carried out for every 282 deliveries at the Lourdes hospital over the 25-year period under review and one Caesarean hysterectomy for every 37 Caesarean sections carried out at the hospital. The rate per section was out of line with hospitals that had a similar ethos.