Woman claims surgery gave her brain damage

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Kathryn Smith, 61, was allegedly deprived of oxygen for up to seven minutes while at the

Kathryn Smith, 61, was allegedly deprived of oxygen for up to seven minutes while at the Warwick Hospital, on the Darling Downs, according to Supreme Court documents. Source: News Limited

A WOMAN who claims she went into a country hospital for a routine procedure and ended up with brain damage from the operation is suing the State Government.

Kathryn Smith, 61, was allegedly deprived of oxygen for up to seven minutes while at the Warwick Hospital, on the Darling Downs, according to Supreme Court documents.

It is alleged the doctor who administered the anaesthetic failed to recognise that he had intubated Mrs Smith’s oesophagus instead of her trachea.

She had gone to the hospital for an elective hysteroscopy and another simple procedure to address post-menopausal pelvic pain.

She was diagnosed with likely brain damage after the operation in 2011, an affidavit filed by Maurice Blackburn lawyer Margaret Brain states.

Since then Mrs Smith, a counsellor who had trained in palliative care, has been unable to work or study.

A neurologist said the hypoxia brain injury had affected her memory, cognitive function, balance and temperature regulation and she had problems with headaches and fatigue.

She had been diagnosed as having a psychiatric impairment, the neurologist found.

Mrs Smith and her husband Kenneth Smith, 61, have filed claims against the State Government’s Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service.

Mr Smith dropped his wife at the hospital on the morning she was to have the straightforward procedures and was told her surgery should be finished by 11.30am.

When he returned to the hospital, staff told him there had been complications with the surgery, Ms Brain said in her affidavit.

She said that when Mr Smith saw his wife in the high dependency unit at 2pm he was shocked to see that her face appeared battered and that she had a split, thickened and bloodied lip.

The next day he and his wife were allegedly told by hospital staff that there had been depletion of oxygen during surgery for 1½ to 2½ minutes. Mr Smith was warned that this could possibly lead to complications with his wife’s lungs, heart, kidney, bowel and brain.

“Hearing that his wife may have sustained a brain injury was extremely distressing and upsetting for (Mr Smith) and brought on thoughts about whether his wife was going to survive,’’ Ms Brain said in her affidavit.