Missed Bowel Abscess Leads To Necrotising Fasciitis
After seeking help from her GP for nearly a year, Judy was eventually rushed to hospital with a large abscess in her bowel. While this was being drained she developed necrotising fasciitis, an aggressive infection that nearly took her life.
In June 2008, Judy began to notice a change in her bowel habits, constantly feeling like she needed to pass a motion, but could not. She also suffered from bloating and cramps in her stomach.
She delayed seeing her GP as she thought she must be suffering from wind but by October, she noticed that there was also blood in her stools.
Judy sought help from her GP. He did an internal rectal examination and took blood tests, the results of which showed mild abnormalities. She was told there was nothing to worry about.
When her symptoms did not alleviate, Judy returned to her GP on a further two occasions. More blood tests were taken, but again no diagnosis was made and she was not given any medication.
Feeling disheartened by the care provided by her GP, Judy decided simply to take painkillers and alter her diet. This did ease the bloating slightly, but otherwise her symptoms continued to worsen.
By September 2009 she was in agony and could not touch her stomach, such was the pain. One Saturday she decided to attend the out-of-hours doctor who told Judy he could feel a lump in her stomach.
The following Monday Judy returned once again to her GP surgery. She was seen by a different GP who told her to go straight to hospital.
After an examination and a blood test, Judy was diagnosed with an abscess in her bowel and a drain was inserted into her stomach.
A couple of days later, Judy realised that the area of skin around the drain was very red. The doctors quickly noticed and told Judy that she had an infection between the layer of skin on her stomach and the layer of fat directly beneath it. She later discovered the infection was necrotising fasciitis.
Due to the aggressive nature of the infection, Judy was rushed into theatre later the same day. A large amount of tissue and bowel had to be removed, so much so that she was fitted with a colostomy.
After the operation Judy fell into a coma which lasted two days. When she woke up, she was advised that she only just survived the operation. Had it been delayed, she would have died. This news was of course very traumatic.
Five weeks later Judy was discharged from hospital. Her wound did not heal well and she must live with the colostomy on a permanent basis which she finds acutely embarrassing.
Judy has also developed severe psychological problems, becoming anxious about falling ill again. She feels she has completely changed as a person, becoming angry and irritable with her family.
These complications could have been avoided, had Judy's GP diagnosed the bowel abscess when she first attended. This would have prevented the need for the abscess to be drained, and would therefore have avoided the added complication of necrotising fasciitis.
We helped Judy pursue a claim against her GP practice. She was awarded in excess of £80,000 compensation.
(Details which might identify our client have been changed.)
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