Inadequate treatment of abscess leads to necrotising fasciitis and sight loss
When she visited her GP suffering with an abscess, Grace was sent home with antibiotics. Within 3 days, she was in hospital with multiple organ failure.
Grace had suffered with abscesses in the past and had received treatment in hospital for them on several occasions. So when she started to feel severe pain and swelling on her thigh, she knew it was another abscess and visited her GP. She was diagnosed with cellulitis and an abscess and sent home with antibiotics with a plan to review the situation in one week's time.
Within two days, however, the pain had become so intense that Grace's husband drove her to their local hospital, where she was admitted, examined and noted to have an abscess 10cm by 10cm in size. However, Grace was not operated on until the following morning, when her abscess was drained.
After returning to the ward, she quickly became unresponsive and her blood pressure could not be detected. However, she was not transferred to the high dependency unit until late afternoon. She was diagnosed with septicaemia resulting from necrotising fasciitis, and was experiencing multiple organ failure. Nonetheless, she was returned to the operating theatre for debridement of the tissue destroyed by the necrotising fasciitis to try to stop the infection from spreading still further.
Grace remained in intensive care receiving life support for almost two weeks, continuing to have further surgical debridement for her necrotising fasciitis and treatment for severe bleeding.
When Grace finally began to recover from her sedation, she realised that her sight was severely impaired. She had no sight in her left eye and limited ability to make out shapes with her right eye. It was thought that Grace had suffered a stroke and she was transferred to another hospital for a month for assessments of her vision and monitoring by a cardiologist. Grace has been advised that her loss of sight will be permanent.
Grace underwent further debridement for necrotising fasciitis and was then given plastic surgery and skin grafts to try to repair the damage to her left thigh but these were not successful, leaving her with severe scarring.
Glynns supported Grace in her claim against the GP and her local hospital for medical negligence. Had the GP referred Grace for prompt incision and drainage of her abscess, it is likely that Grace would not have suffered from septicaemia, necrotising fasciitis, multisystem organ failure, severe scarring, and impairment of her sight. We argued that Grace's local hospital also contributed to her poor outcome through their delayed actions.
As a result of her catastrophic injuries, Grace has been unable to return to work and has to rely heavily on her husband. She is unable to carry out household tasks or enjoy her former hobbies. She is devastated that she is unable to watch her grandchildren as they grow.
Grace was awarded in excess of £450,000 in compensation for her injuries and the impact that these will have on her life.
(Details which might identify our client have been changed.)
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