A surgeon performed a laparoscopic cholecycstectomy on our client to remove her gallbladder. Upon being discharged home, our client began experiencing pain in her upper quadrant and abdomen. Three days later she presented to the emergency room with complaints of abdominal pain, leukocytosis, abnormal liver function, a temperature of 100.8, and elevated white blood count. The same surgeon treated our client with purgatives and enemas and discharged her with a rising white blood count. For five more days our client continued to experience pain, weakness, and vomiting; due to these conditions she was admitted to the hospital for treatment. During the course of her hospitalization, an ERCP was performed which revealed extravasation of dye out of the right hepatic duct. A stent was placed through the sphincter and a percutaneus drain was placed to drain the biloma. A CT scan revealed a wedge-like defect in the liver which was suggestive of ischemia.
Our client continued to deteriorate and a consultation was obtained from the Transplant Surgery Service at LSU. She was transferred to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas about a month after the initial incident. At Baylor University Medical Center, a CT revealed an abscess of the right lobe with necrosis of the liver. Our client underwent a right hepatic lobectomy to repair her necrotic liver.
What should have been a very simple procedure that had a very short recovery time was turned into a long term problem. The surgeon should have properly identified all of the anatomy when performing the procedure. The surgeon’s failure to do so resulted in damage to the hepactic artery and complete loss of blood flow to the right lobe of the liver. Our client had to go through numerous painful procedures so that the dead part of the liver could be removed. Through deposition, Todd Townsley was able to reveal that the surgeon had cauterized the right hepatic artery, and by doing so, the surgeon cut off the blood supply to the right lobe of the liver. Despite the medical review panel opinion is favor of the surgeon, Todd Townsley was able to reach a satisfactory settlement for this client through the use of expert testimony.
