Finding into death of MD
Deceased
MD
Demographics
82y, male
Date of death
2025-02-07
Finding date
2026-01-23
Cause of death
Complications of large bowel obstruction in a man with diverticular disease and other co-morbidities
AI-generated summary
An 82-year-old man died from complications of large bowel obstruction secondary to a sigmoid mass while incarcerated at Port Phillip Prison. He presented with abdominal pain and vomiting following a fall, and imaging confirmed large bowel obstruction. A colorectal fellow recommended emergency surgery (laparotomy and Hartmann's procedure), but perioperative medicine and ICU teams deemed him too high-risk due to extensive comorbidities including heart failure, chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, and peripheral vascular disease. Following discussion with the patient and family, palliative management was chosen. The coroner found the medical care was reasonable and the death was not preventable, noting that early detection of the bowel mass would unlikely have changed outcomes given his comorbidities precluded most treatments.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Large bowel obstruction secondary to sigmoid mass
- Diverticular disease
- Extensive comorbidities including heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
- Stage four chronic kidney disease
- Atrial fibrillation
- Supratherapeutic INR on warfarin
- Advanced age
- Physical frailty and limited mobility
- Fall with head strike preceding presentation
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