A 55-year-old woman died unexpectedly at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin shortly after undergoing elective surgery designed to stop her having to use a colostomy bag, an inquest has heard.
A consultant surgeon told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court that he had never seen a patient experience such complications in over 14 years of performing such surgery.
Dolores Bollard – a married mother of three from Channel Road, Rush, Co Dublin – was admitted to the hospital on September 10, 2020 for an operation to close a stoma – an opening in her abdomen – to reverse a colostomy.
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The inquest heard on Tuesday that the surgery was uneventful and Ms Bollard was in good health immediately after coming from theatre but her condition deteriorated the following day.
She required emergency surgery on September 12, 2020 to establish the cause of her deteriorating health but she was subsequently placed in the hospital’s intensive care unit after suffering multi-organ failure.
Ms Bollard was pronounced dead in the early hours of September 14, 2020 after a decision was taken to withdraw a life-support machine.
The deceased’s son, Jamie Bollard, told the inquest that his mother had been using a colostomy bag since 2014 when she had surgery to remove part of her small bowel at Beaumont Hospital.
Mr Bollard said she had been in good health prior to having the operation at the Mater Private Hospital apart from high blood pressure for which she was on medication.
He explained that his mother had gone to the Mater through the National Treatment Purchase Fund as there had been a waiting time of over 18 months for the same procedure at Beaumont.
The inquest heard Ms Bollard wanted the surgery as she was having difficulty with her colostomy bag which she had to empty every few hours, while it was also proving difficult to re-attach.
The consultant surgeon who performed the operation on Ms Bollard, Conor Shields, said the patient was also on 12 tablets per day to treat diarrhoea.
Prof Shields said Ms Bollard wanted the operation because she was struggling with the stoma as she had developed multiple hernias in her abdominal wall which was causing her distress and affecting her quality of life.
The inquest heard that he had explained to the patient that her only option was to reverse the stoma and repair the hernias.
Prof Shields said he had outlined to Ms Bollard that there was a 20% risk of complications from the surgery and a lower risk of death which the inquest heard later was estimated at 5%.
The consultant said he had first met Ms Bollard in July 2020 for a pre-operative assessment where he decided to send her for another examination because of her past medical history, being overweight and suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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Prof Shields told the coroner, Clare Keane, that he had no particular concerns at the time of what he described as “challenging” surgery and the patient had remained well overnight following the procedure with normal bowel function.
However, Prof Shields said her condition deteriorated the following evening and he took the decision that she needed emergency surgery on September 12, 2020 to check if she had sepsis.
Prof Shields said he had found there was a lack of blood supply to several organs including the large bowel (colon) and uterus.
The consultant said it was not a usual complication of surgery to reverse a stoma and he had never experienced it over 14 years as a surgeon.
“It was difficult to explain why her condition deteriorated and why so rapidly,” he observed.
However, Prof Shields said the results of a post-mortem had shown that Ms Bollard was suffering from a disease of the heart muscle which was affecting its ability to pump blood which had proven a contributory factor.
Dr Keane adjourned the inquest after counsel for Ms Bollard’s family, Ciaran Craven SC, signalled that they wished to question the State pathologist, Linda Mulligan, about the findings in her post-mortem report.
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