Coronial
TAShospital

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. Report an inaccuracy.

Specialties

emergency medicinepaediatricspaediatric surgeryintensive care

Error types

diagnosticsystemdelay

Clinical conditions

small bowel obstructionsmall bowel infarctionvolvulusacute renal failureshockmulti-organ failurewilms tumour (history)

Procedures

nasogastric tube insertionintra-osseous cannula insertionabdominal imagingabdominal surgery

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
Full text

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