Coroner's Finding: FIDGE Patricia Ann
Deceased
Patricia Ann Fidge
Demographics
67y, female
Date of death
2012-03-20
Finding date
2016-02-08
Cause of death
choking and ischaemic heart disease
AI-generated summary
Patricia Ann Fidge, 67, died at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital from choking and ischaemic heart disease. She was admitted with delirium, hypernatremia, and multiple comorbidities including COPD and sleep apnoea. While eating breakfast on day 3 of admission, she aspirated food material that lodged in her right main bronchus. Staff responded promptly to her gurgling sounds and attempted resuscitation with bag-mask ventilation, but she was not intubated given her DNR status and poor prognosis. The coroner found her care was appropriate and death could not have been prevented. Foreign body aspiration in patients with respiratory compromise and altered mental status requires careful observation during eating, though in this case timely clinical response occurred.
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Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
Contributing factors
- delirium
- altered mental status
- hypernatraemia
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- type 2 respiratory failure
- obstructive sleep apnoea
- food aspiration
Full text
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