Inquest into the Death of Daniel Allan Sullivan
Deceased
Daniel Allan Sullivan
Demographics
48y, male
Date of death
2004-06-20
Finding date
2005-06-30
Cause of death
Hypoxic brain injury following cardiac arrest in a patient with sigmoid colon volvulus (acute bowel ischaemia) and sepsis
AI-generated summary
Daniel Allan Sullivan, a 48-year-old man with chronic paranoid schizophrenia who had been an involuntary patient at Graylands Hospital for 23 years, presented to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on 13 June 2004 with abdominal pain and signs of acute bowel obstruction. Initial assessment identified sigmoid volvulus on imaging. He deteriorated with oxygen desaturation and suffered a cardiac arrest on 15 June 2004, requiring resuscitation. Emergency laparotomy revealed ischaemic sigmoid colon which was surgically resected. Despite successful surgery, the prolonged hypoxia from cardiac arrest resulted in severe hypoxic brain injury. He remained in ICU with minimal neurological recovery and was extubated on 20 June 2004, dying that evening. The coroner found his supervision, treatment and care were adequate and the death arose from natural causes.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- Sigmoid colon volvulus with acute bowel ischaemia
- Sepsis secondary to bowel ischaemia
- Cardiac arrest during acute illness
- Prolonged hypoxia from resuscitation
- Underlying chronic mental illness affecting ability to communicate symptoms and cooperate with assessment
- Difficulty assessing acute abdomen in context of significant mental health problems
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