In a case of gross negligence, a 62-year old man bled to death while doctors at the premiere All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) performed a live surgery on him in presence of top medical practitioners and students from around the world.
The patient, Shobha Ram, was undergoing laparoscopic surgery for liver cancer. Sources said the patient suffered excessive blood loss during the surgery that lasted for nearly seven hours. The patient was shifted to ICU where he died. The incident took place on July 31.
Students and top medical professionals from various countries of the world were present at the workshop where the live surgery was being telecast. The event started under the doctors from the department of gastroenterology. During the laparoscopic surgery, round of questions and answers was on between medical experts and students. Everything was in place. Experts from Japan were helping the team of AIIMS doctors in this live surgery.
But even after over four hours the laparoscopy was not getting things in place. After struggling for more than four hours, the audience in the room suggested the doctors to go for an open surgery, but the doctors continued with the laparoscopy. But after an hour, the situation became serious as the patient was bleeding profusely. When the laparoscopy could not help the patient, the audience and the experts reiterated the need to opt for an open surgery to save the patient's life. But it was too late. "The open surgery continued for almost seven hours and till then the patient had lost a lot of blood. When the doctors realised that even the open surgery is not going to save the patient's life, they immediately stitched his stomach and took him to ICU," a doctor said requesting anonymity.
According to the family of the patient, the doctors told them that due to excessive blood loss they could not save his life. "When we went to the hospital, the doctors said that there was excessive blood loss and his life could not be saved. There were many people in the room where my father was being operated. Other than that we don't know anything," the deceased patient's daughter told Mail Today. "Earlier we were told that senior doctors from Japan and other countries will be performing the surgery," she added.
Ram was initially taken to GB Pant Hospital from where he was referred to AIIMS. The family admitted him in AIIMS on July 13, and on July 31 morning he was taken for the surgery. When contacted, AIIMS denied negligence, saying precautions were taken during the surgery to prevent blood loss but due to underlying liver disease the patient succumbed. "The patient had cirrhosis of the liver due to Hepatitis B and a liver cancer.
During the course of the surgery there was bleeding, which is a known complication of the procedure. The procedure was converted to an open one and measures were taken to control bleeding. The bleeding was controlled and the patient was shifted to the ICU, a statement from AIIMS said. "The mortality of this procedure in patients with cirrhosis in most centres of the world is in the range of five to 10 per cent," the statement from the hospital added.
