Coroner's Finding: RS - de-identified
Deceased
RS
Demographics
1y, female
Date of death
2021-06-10
Finding date
2023-04-03
Cause of death
infarction and volvulus of the small intestine due to adhesion from prior nephrectomy
AI-generated summary
A 19-month-old girl with history of Wilms tumour presented to Launceston General Hospital with vomiting, pain and lethargy. A Children's Early Warning Tool score of 6 triggered mandatory protocols including senior doctor review within 15 minutes and frequent observations. These protocols were not followed. The child was initially treated in the waiting area without documented observations for over 5 hours. Small bowel obstruction was suspected at 4:45am but imaging was delayed and initially appeared normal. Critical diagnosis of small bowel infarction due to volvulus (from surgical adhesions) was missed, delaying transfer to Royal Hobart Hospital until 1:46pm. By then the child was in shock and multi-organ failure. The coroner found that earlier recognition and transfer may have altered the outcome.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- failure to adhere to Children's Early Warning Tool protocols despite score of 6
- failure to perform senior doctor review within mandated 15 minutes
- failure to perform frequent clinical observations as required
- delay in medical imaging
- initial imaging misinterpretation (no bowel obstruction detected)
- delayed recognition of small bowel obstruction diagnosis
- delayed transfer to Royal Hobart Hospital
- absence of documented clinical observations for over 5 hours
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