Coroner's Finding: de-identified EK
Demographics
80y, male
Date of death
2023-08-17
Finding date
2024-11-04
Cause of death
haemorrhagic stroke caused by Staphylococcus aureus sepsis due to L4/5 discectomy wound infection
AI-generated summary
An 80-year-old man underwent elective microdiscectomy for spinal pain in April 2023. In late June, he developed a wound infection with Staphylococcus aureus causing discitis. Despite appropriate diagnosis and aggressive treatment including IV antibiotics and surgical washout, the infection progressed to sepsis, septic shock, hospital-acquired pneumonia, kidney failure, possible endocarditis, and ultimately a haemorrhagic stroke. The coroner's medical consultant found no deficiencies in care. Post-operative spine infections can present insidiously with pain as the primary symptom, typically about one month post-operatively, and diagnosis may be delayed if antibiotics are prescribed for concurrent conditions. Once correctly diagnosed, appropriate treatment was initiated but the severe infection could not be controlled.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- post-operative spinal wound infection
- Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia
- severe sepsis with septic shock
- hospital-acquired pneumonia
- acute kidney injury
- possible endocarditis
- haemorrhagic stroke
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