Boy’s hospital death was misadventure
A CORONER recorded a misadventure verdict at an inquest into a 10-year-old Leeds boy’s death three days after a routine operation to remove kidney stones.
Luke Glendenning, of Swarcliffe, died of multi-organ failure following complications during the surgery at Leeds General Infirmary on November 6, 2017, the inquest at Wakefield heard.
Recording a verdict of misadventure following a two-day inquest, assistant coroner Oliver Longstaff, said: “The surgical procedure that Luke underwent was undertaken deliberately and undertaken in what was perceived to be Luke’s best interests.
“The events that followed from that surgery were unforeseen, unintentional and a tragedy.”
The inquest heard Luke was fit and healthy and that the kidney stones were an incidental finding following a fall earlier in 2017.
He suffered complications during the surgery including internal bleeding and a rare condition called abdominal compartment syndrome.
That condition came about after fluid put in his system during the operation failed to drain properly and put pressure on his organs.
The inquest heard he underwent five more operations, but died on November 9.
The inquest heard that the paediatric percutaneous nephrolithotomy operations of the type that Luke underwent are no longer carried out at in Leeds and there are no plans to reintroduce them.
Luke’s mother Sue Hirst said after the inquest: “We were never told of the risk of the fluid and that it might lead to abdominal compartment syndrome.”
Miss Hirst said there should have been more checks in place during the operation to ensure that the condition was not occurring.