Perforated Bowel Compensation Claim
If your bowel was negligently injured during a medical procedure, and/or medical practitioners failed to notice that you had a perforated bowel, you could be entitled to make a compensation claim.
For more information on claiming compensation for a perforated bowel, please get in touch with us today. We are a niche medical negligence law firm dedicated to helping victims of medical error.
What is a perforated bowel?
A perforated bowel is also known as a ruptured bowel. It is when a hole develops in the bowel wall. This can happen because the bowel wall has been weakened by illness, such as inflammatory bowel disease. It can also be cut, nicked or punctured during traumatic accidents (including road traffic accidents), medical procedures (such as a colonoscopy) and surgery.
Why is a perforated bowel dangerous?
A perforated bowel is very dangerous because the content of the large intestine – including faeces and food – will leak out into the abdominal cavity. The presence of faeces and other waste products will quickly cause an infection of the peritoneum, which is the lining of the abdominal cavity. This infection is called peritonitis and it will make the patient extremely unwell with diarrhoea and vomiting.
Perforated bowel and sepsis
Peritonitis is also closely associated with sepsis, a condition that is triggered by an infection. Sepsis is life-threatening because it causes organ dysfunction. Such complications can develop rapidly, and multi-system organ failure can occur within days of the bowel perforating. Therefore if treatment is not given in time, a perforated bowel can be fatal. Typically peritonitis and sepsis will be cited on the death certificate.
Diagnosing a perforated bowel
To prevent potentially fatal complications arising, a perforated bowel must be diagnosed and treated without delay. It should be obvious that the patient is severely unwell, as he/she will be complaining of severe abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.
If the patient has recently undergone an operation, a medical procedure, has a bowel condition or has been involved in an accident, their symptoms should immediately raise suspicion of a perforated bowel. Even if the patient does not have these risk factors, their symptoms should lead medical practitioners to a correct diagnosis, which may be caused by an underlying medical condition such as a duodenal ulcer.
If the patient is already a patient in hospital, their deterioration should be quickly noticed and he/she should be rushed to theatre for exploratory surgery and repair. If the patient is not in hospital, the severity of their symptoms will soon drive them to see their GP or local A&E. Again, medical practitioners should soon suspect a perforated bowel. This can be confirmed with a CT scan which will show escaped air in the abdominal cavity, indicating a bowel perforation.
Failing to diagnose a perforated bowel
Should medical practitioners fail to understand a patient's symptoms, the consequences could be extremely serious. If you have fallen critically unwell because of a failure to diagnose a perforated bowel, or your loved one has, there could be a case of medical negligence.
A competent medical practitioner would suspect a perforated bowel based upon the patient's symptoms, particularly if there was a recent history of trauma, surgery, colonoscopy, or bowel illness. A competent medical practitioner would then confirm the suspected diagnosis with a CT scan or, if the patient was very unwell, head straight to theatre for repair.
A failure to achieve this standard of care could be deemed unacceptable, meaning the patient could be the innocent victim of medical negligence.
What if doctors perforated my bowel?
There may also be grounds for a medical negligence claim if your bowel perforated due to the actions of medical practitioners.
Bowel perforation is a risk of certain procedures, so it is not necessarily negligent if a surgeon does nick your bowel. But if this does happen, it must be recognised and repaired. The patient must not be sent back to the recovery ward with an undiagnosed and unrepaired perforation.
Unfortunately we have dealt with cases in which the patient has fallen seriously unwell because a medical practitioner has injured the bowel but has failed to realise. If this has happened to you or your loved one, the care provided could be deemed unacceptable. This could entitle you to claim compensation.
What should I do next?
To found out more about claiming compensation for a perforated bowel, you need to talk to a solicitor who specialises in medical negligence law – also called clinical negligence in England and Wales.
A solicitor will ask about the care that was given and the injuries that you, or your loved one, sustained. Here at Glynns our senior solicitors will then consider your case and decide upon the best course of action.
If we believe that there is a case of negligence to be answered, we will advise that you are entitled to pursue a claim. You do not have to continue with a claim if you do not wish to. Not everyone will feel able to participate in legal action, perhaps due to physical or psychological reasons.
But if you do want to carry on, we will open the file and conduct the claim on your behalf. The first steps are to obtain all the medical records and take witness statements from yourself and other relevant parties.
Compensation for a perforated bowel
A successful claim will result in you being awarded financial compensation. It is important to note that we only take on claims that we believe have a good chance of success.
Compensation is awarded for your physical, emotional and financial injuries. A perforated bowel can cause terrible damage, and for patients who survive is often accompanied by a long recovery and ongoing symptoms. There can also be anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Such injuries can leave the patient unable to work their usual hours, or work at all, leading to financial strain. Compensation will not undo everything that has happened, but it will aim to reflect the harm you have endured, and will limit the financial worries you may be facing.
To talk to a solicitor, please get in touch with us at Glynns Solicitors.
Call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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