Bacterial infection led to amputation of infant's arm in Chennai hospital, Probe panel holds no medical negligence

Chennai:Investigating the allegations of negligence in the treatment of a toddler, who had to undergo amputation of his right hand, a three-member internal committee has given a clean chit to the hospital staff.

According to the panel set up by the Government, the bacterial infection (Pseudomonas) could have led to ischaemia and resulted in the amputation of the toddler's limb.

Earlier, State Health Minister Ma Subramanian had also assured that there was no medical negligence on the part of the doctors or staff. Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that in an alleged medical negligence incident at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), a one-and-a-half-year-old infant's family has accused doctors and nurses of amputating his right hand while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Taking note of the seriousness of the incident and the strong accusations against the doctors and the nurses, Health Minister Ma Subramanian assured the family that an inquiry would be conducted into the case, after which a panel was created.

The toddler, who was born preterm, was diagnosed with hydrocephalus — a neurological disorder caused by an abnormal buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. When he was five months old, the boy underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunting, the Minister explained. His parents hail from Ramanathapuram, he said.

“After his hand was amputated due to complications that suddenly arose, his parents were briefed. There has been no medical negligence on the part of the doctors or staff. The boy’s parents have been given the option to obtain a second opinion of the treatment being provided at the RGGGH,” he said and added that the government was willing to bear the medical expenses in case the parents opt to take treatment at any private hospital.

Also Read: Infant's arm amputated at Chennai Hospital: No medical negligence, says TN Govt

As per the latest media report by the New Indian Express, recently the three-member internal committee has also given a clean chit to the hospital staff. However, the parents of the toddler mentioned that they were not satisfied with the report as the version of events presented by them to the committee were not considered.

The committee set up by the Government on Sunday included Dr. N Sritharan, the Director of the Institute of Vascular Surgery, the Director of the Institute of General Surgery at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Dr. P S Shanthi and Dr. D C Ravichandran, the head of paediatric haematology, Government Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore.

In its report, the internal panel disputed the allegations by the parents, who alleged that the venflon was wrongly inserted into the artery and there was delay in attending to the toddler when the mother complained about the redness in his hand.

The panel has opined in its report that on June 26, the cerebrospinal fluid showed pseudomonas infection and chemical analysis revealed low SSF sugar and high protein, suggestive of brain infection.

Thereafter, on June 29, the mother of the child noticed the child crying incessantly and after administration of IV drugs, redness in the right hand was also observed. The mother of the child informed about this to the staff nurse and the venflon was removed.

Consequently, on June 30, the child was examined by a team of professors and assistant professor and they diagnosed the child with thrombophlebitis and treated him accordingly. When the discolouration of the right hand and loss of movements increased, the vascular surgeon and radiologist were asked to give an opinion. Thereafter, the child was diagnosed with acute ischaemia and was shifted to ICH, Egmore, for amputation.

In the report, the internal panel said that there was no delay in performing the surgery on the toddler and there was no extravasation at the IV site (no blebs or swelling). After noticing worsening of discolouration and loss of movement on the right upper limb, it was diagnosed to be acute ischaemia of the right upper limb.

In this regard, the panel mentioned in the report, “The arterial thrombosis and vasculitis, inflammation of blood vessels, is probably due to pseudomonas (an organism known to cause vasculitis and thrombosis of arteries) which resulted in acute ischaemia of the right upper limb leading to amputation.”

Meanwhile the parents of the toddler claimed that the committee did not hold an inquiry with other attenders in the ward. She also denied that the staff nurses in the ward attended the toddler immediately. “Till the government supports the atrocities of government staff, the mistakes will happen again,” said the mother of the child, adding that she will ask for complete medical reports of her son from the dean of the hospital and decided on the next step.

Also Read: Alleged wrong placement of IV drip: Infant loses right arm, probe ordered on Chennai Hospital