The patient was to undergo gastric surgery with peephole technique in October last year. A routine procedure performed in several places in Skåne.
During the procedure, there was heavy bleeding which the medical staff had difficulty locating.
“Very tragic event”
Specialists were called in from other operating theaters, as well as surgeons from both Malmö and Lund.
In the end, the bleeding was traced to the carotid artery – but despite intensive efforts, the man’s life could not be saved.
– It is a very tragic event. It is a catastrophic event for the victim and his family, says Stefan Santén, operations manager for VO surgery and gastroenterology at Skåne University Hospital.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the caregiver decided to put the type of surgery that the man underwent on pause. Operations of the same kind are also performed in Karlskrona and Växjö and at Skåne University Hospital (SU).
– Due to this incident, we have pulled the handbrake and not performed any such interventions in Landskrona during the spring.
The caregiver has investigated the incident in accordance with Lex Maria.
The injury linked to the procedure
It is clear that the carotid artery was injured in connection with the operation, but the health service’s own investigation has not been able to answer how the injury arose.
– We do not know what caused the injury, but it is linked to the operation. We have theories, but I can not speculate further about it further, says Stefan Santén.
Stefan Santén does not want to go into what specific measures have been put in place to prevent a similar injury from occurring again. But it must be about measures linked to “possible contributing causes to the event”.
At the hospital in Landskrona, the routines for ordering blood products in emergency situations have been clarified and action plans used in critical situations have been updated.