The patient sought emergency care for a high fever and pain in a leg. The medical service assessed that the symptoms were due to rose fever.
The man was treated at the hospital and given antibiotics. The region says that the patient had high levels of infection, but that he was not continuously monitored.
– They thought it was less serious in the first stage. It was not discovered early that the patient was getting worse.
Had to be moved to ICU
The man deteriorated and moved to the intensive care unit. There it was discovered that he had a serious infection caused by invasive streptococci.
The patient had emergency surgery and all infected tissue was removed. The following day, the patient was operated on again to ensure that all infected tissue was removed. Then the leg had to be amputated above the knee joint.
What do you think about it being missed?
– It underlines that it is important to consider other diagnoses, to be prepared for the possibility of a serious infection. You must have a continuous monitoring of the patient so that you notice a deterioration early.
Reported the incident
The region writes that if the diagnosis had been made earlier, the amputation might have been avoided.
– Amputation could possibly have been avoided if the right treatment had been given earlier, says Andersson.
Now the patient needs a long rehabilitation period and adaptations at home. The region is reviewing its procedures and has reported the incident according to lex maria.
– We have brought this up in various forums and contexts, and emphasized that it is important. There must be a higher level of preparedness for the possibility of a serious infection so that we can catch it as early as possible.