Deceased
Lesley Fallon
Demographics
56y, female
Date of death
2017-06-03
Finding date
2018-03-08
Cause of death
Aspiration Pneumonia in the setting of Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy
AI-generated summary
Lesley Fallon, a 56-year-old woman with cerebral palsy and epilepsy living in high-level residential care, presented with sepsis complicated by pneumonia, cholecystitis, and aspiration risk. Despite aggressive treatment including antibiotics, blood transfusion, and MET team interventions on multiple occasions, her condition deteriorated. A speech pathologist appropriately identified aspiration risk and recommended nil oral intake on 24 May. However, nasogastric feeding tube insertion on 29 May precipitated instability. Surgery was deemed too risky given her physiological state. Care was transitioned to palliative approach based on poor prognosis. She died from aspiration pneumonia. The case illustrates challenges in managing complex medically fragile patients with swallowing dysfunction and sepsis, and the difficult balance between nutritional support and aspiration prevention in deteriorating patients.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
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