THE desperate battle to save the life of a nurse who suffered catastrophic internal bleeding following a routine operation was outlined in the Royal Court yesterday.
Consultants including gynaecologists John Day, Neil MacLachlan and general surgeons Nicholas Ingram and James Allardice spent five hours performing emergency surgery on staff nurse Elizabeth Rourke in a bid to stem the blood loss and save her life, according to obstetrician gynaecologist Dr Khalid Ahmed.
He was giving evidence on the fifth day of the Assize trial of Dolores Moyano Ontiveros as he was also in the operating theatre when the emergency surgery was being performed. Dr Moyano is charged with the manslaughter of Mrs Rourke on 17 October 2006. Mrs Rourke, who was 49, worked on the Beauport Ward and died following a routine gynaeological hysteroscopy. She was last on a list of nine people to undergo the procedure after suffering irregular periods.
Dr Ahmed told Crown Advocate Howard Sharp that he was in the theatre with Neil MacLachlan trying to establish why Mrs Rourke’s blood pressure had dropped following the initial operation, before Mr Day arrived and discovered the injury causing the heavy bleeding was a 2 cm hole on the common iliac vein, a major vein in the body. A perforation was also discovered at the top of the womb.
Article posted on 14th January, 2009 - 2.58pm
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