Perforated Bowel After Surgery
If your bowel ruptured after surgery but doctors failed to notice, causing you to suffer serious illness, you could be entitled to pursue a claim for compensation. To talk to a lawyer about making a claim for medical negligence, please get in touch with us at Glynns Solicitors.
Why would a bowel rupture after surgery?
The bowel can rupture during surgery if the surgeon accidentally cuts or nicks the organ.
The bowel can also rupture after abdominal surgery. In such cases the bowel is intact at the end of the operation but bursts a short time later. This might happen if some sutures (stitches) come undone, or if the wall of the bowel has become weakened by illness such as inflammatory bowel disease.
What will happen when the bowel ruptures?
A ruptured bowel is very painful. If the patient is conscious, there will be intense abdominal pain and a burning sensation in the tummy. The patient may even be aware of something 'ripping' inside them.
The contents of the bowel will then begin to spill out into the abdominal cavity. The bowel contains faeces and other waste. These products will infect the lining of the abdominal cavity, causing a bacterial infection called peritonitis. At this stage the patient will feel very unwell with abdominal discomfort and fever.
The infection may also reach the bloodstream, resulting in sepsis. This is extremely serious and can be fatal. In fact, around 37,000 people in the UK die of sepsis every year. At this stage the patient will still have a fever and will also develop confusion, breathlessness and vomiting.
Recognising a ruptured bowel
Should a patient begin to show symptoms of a bowel perforation, such as a fever and intense abdominal pain, clinicians should be quick to suspect that the bowel may have ruptured.
When a bowel ruptures after surgery, medical professionals cannot be readily blamed for the incident. However, it is essential that they recognise a patient whose bowel has ruptured post-operatively or potentially fatal complications could ensue.
Should a patient begin to show symptoms such as a fever and intense abdominal pain, clinicians should be quick to suspect a ruptured bowel. Indeed, the patient has recently undergone abdominal surgery and is now displaying signs of a severe infection – it should not take medical practitioners long to consider the possibility of a ruptured bowel.
If doctors and nurses fail to realise that a patient has a perforated bowel and send him/her home, the standard of care will be deemed unacceptable. If this causes a patient harm – such as sepsis, scarring and the need for a colostomy bag – there may be grounds for a claim.
To start your claim for compensation, please contact us at Glynns Solicitors.
Free initial claim assessment
Think medical treatment may have caused avoidable harm?
Tell our specialist medical negligence team what happened. We will review the initial information and explain whether we may be able to help.
- Tell us what treatment you received and what you believe went wrong
- We assess the initial circumstances
- We explain whether further investigation may be appropriate
Your initial enquiry is free. No Win No Fee funding may be available.
What happens when you contact us?
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1
Tell us what happened
Call us or complete the short enquiry form with a brief outline of the treatment you received and the harm caused.
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2
We assess the circumstances
A member of our specialist team will review the initial details and may ask you for some further information.
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3
We explain your options
We will explain whether we may be able to help, the possible next steps and any funding options relevant to your enquiry.
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We offer everyone a free, no obligation enquiry. This means you can talk to a solicitor completely free of charge. After this consultation you will be given expert legal advice, during which you will be told whether you have grounds to make a claim.
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