Finding into death of Rodney Mark Moore
Deceased
RODNEY MARK MOORE
Demographics
45y, male
Date of death
2008-02-01
Finding date
2014-04-17
Cause of death
Sudden death of unascertained cause, occurring eight days after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, in the setting of post-operative haemorrhage with haemoperitoneum
AI-generated summary
A 45-year-old man died unexpectedly 8 days after an uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Post-mortem examination found approximately 1 litre of blood in the peritoneal cavity. Pathologists could not determine when the bleeding occurred or definitively establish that this volume of blood caused death in an otherwise healthy 45-year-old man. The coroner concluded the cause of death was unascertained, occurring in the setting of post-operative haemorrhage. No fault was found with the surgeon's conduct or the nursing care provided. The clinical lesson is that unexpected sudden death following surgery requires careful investigation to establish causation; presumed causes should not be accepted without rigorous evidence, and the timing and significance of haemorrhage must be carefully assessed.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- post-operative haemorrhage
- haemoperitoneum
- liver laceration during surgery that ceased spontaneously
- inability to determine timing or cause of intra-abdominal bleeding
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —