Deceased
Wilma Ray Jones
Demographics
75y, female
Date of death
2009-03-22
Finding date
2013-11-29
Cause of death
Abdominal infection following surgery (repair of recurrent umbilical hernia) - specifically, peritonitis and sepsis secondary to ischaemic infarction of small bowel
AI-generated summary
Wilma Ray Jones, 75, died of abdominal infection and sepsis following uncomplicated umbilical hernia repair. Post-mortem revealed ischaemic bowel with infarction, likely caused by superior mesenteric artery occlusion triggered by the operative procedure. Ischaemia developed hours post-operatively but was diagnostically subtle, presenting initially as post-operative pain controlled by analgesia. Clinical deterioration occurred rapidly on day 3, with sepsis only becoming apparent around midday on 21 March. Although earlier intervention theoretically possible, ischaemic gut sepsis is rarely survivable even with early diagnosis and operative intervention. Key gaps included: interrupted IV hydration (5.5 hours due to cannula loss), lack of surgical registrar coverage on ward on day 2, incomplete documentation, and possible contribution from intra-operative hypotension requiring ephedrine. However, these deficiencies likely did not alter outcome in a rare, rapidly fatal condition.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Procedures
46y · Male·sepsis following haemorrhoidectomy
46-year-old Justin Mark Dobson died from sepsis following a routine haemorrhoidectomy on 17 July 2019. He was discharged to the ward overnight but deteriorated significantly from 11:00 am on 18 July, showing hypotension,…
71y · Male·End-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and atherosclerotic heart diseas…
Colin Albert Winter, a 71-year-old prisoner who died from end-stage COPD and atherosclerotic heart disease, received comprehensive medical care during 33 years of incarceration at Casuarina Prison. Key clinical lessons i…
63y · Male·metastatic rectal carcinoma
Jeremy Scott, a 63-year-old prisoner, died from metastatic rectal carcinoma on 3 July 2017. From 2015 onwards, he reported rectal and anal symptoms including pain, bleeding, and palpable masses, which were repeatedly att…
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. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. 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 — report an inaccuracy here.