CHENNAI: Hours after 17-year-old Priya, an aspiring footballer, died early on Tuesday at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital where she was undergoing treatment following complications due to a knee surgery she underwent on November 7 at the Government Peripheral Hospital in Periyar Nagar, the state health department suspended two government doctors for medical negligence. Departmental action will also be initiated against Dr K Somasundar and Dr A Paul Ram Sankar, assistant professor-rank doctors, authorities said.
According to sources, the doctors had failed to remove a compression bandage they had placed to prevent blood flow to the surgery spot during the operation, leading to fatal complications. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, health minister Ma Subramanian said Priya’s kidneys, liver and heart were affected and she couldn’t be saved despite GH doctors’ best efforts. The minister said Rs 10 lakh compensation would be given to the girl’s family and one of her three brothers would get a government job.
Explaining her medical complications, Dr E Theranirajan, Dean, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, said, “Priya died of multi-organ failure. She was taken for revision surgery to remove more dead tissues on Monday. Because of muscle breakdown, there was an increase in the presence of a protein called myoglobin in the urine.”
‘Doctors forgot to remove compression bandage’
“This affected her kidneys and her creatinine level was high. Enzymes in the liver were also elevated and heart contraction had slowed down. Slowly, one organ after the other failed. Her blood pressure dropped. She was put on a ventilator and dialysis was also carried out.
Despite intensive care through the night on Monday, her condition deteriorated, Dean Theranirajan said. Sources said Priya took an MRI scan at the RGGGH on October 15, which showed a ligament tear. Doctors there suggested keyhole surgery. But the family decided to admit the girl to the Government Peripheral Hospital in Periyar Nagar for the surgery.
She was admitted to the peripheral hospital on October 29 with complaints of knee pain, swelling, and slippage of knee-joint. She had a history of injuries, an official source said. On November 7, the two doctors performed arthroscopy, a minimally invasive surgical procedure. “The doctors placed the compression bandage to prevent blood flow to the surgical site to get clear vision and precision. But after the procedure, they forgot to remove the bandage.
Two grafts were taken, one in the thigh region and another below the knee,” the source said. “Priya complained of pain on the night of the surgery. But the doctors thought it was because of the surgery and they gave her painkillers. As she kept complaining of pain and her leg got swollen, a doppler scan was taken on November 8.
The scan showed that blood flow in her blood vessels had stopped. A vascular surgeon’s opinion was sought, and she was referred to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for further treatment and management,” the source added.
After Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurated the renovated peripheral hospital on August, 2021, with four operation theatres in his Kolathur constituency, outpatient and in-patient cases picked up, and doctors started performing advanced procedures at the facility.
“The hospital performed its first arthroscopy surgery on Priya. The doctors had performed many knee replacement surgeries and other procedures. The doctors had also said they had performed several arthroscopy procedures in private hospitals.
So, they performed it here,” said a source. As blood vessels started decaying and infection started spreading in the leg, doctors decided to amputate Priya’s leg, and it was done on November 9 at the RGGGH. They again did a surgery on Monday to remove extra growth in her knee.
Forgot to take off bandage
Two doctors, now suspended, had failed to remove a compression bandage they had placed to prevent blood flow to the surgical spot during keyhole operation