A 24-year-old woman had her left hand amputated after developing a flesh-eating infection in hospital after giving birth.
Gleice Kelly Gomes Silva had a normal delivery of her third child at a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October of last year.
But then he began to bleed, and doctors put an IV drip in his hand to administer medication. Her hand swelled up, she turned purple and started to hurt, and the doctors said that she had necrosis and they had no choice but to amputate her.
The mother-of-three is now seeking damages at the hospital, saying she is certain the amputation was due to “medical error”. It is not clear if the intravenous drip was contaminated.
It comes after a UK hospital was forced to apologize to a new mother for hiding a surgeon’s mistake that nearly killed her during childbirth.
Gleice Kelly Gomes Silva, 24 (pictured above), had her left hand and wrist amputated after they developed necrosis. She believes this was due to a medical error.
This picture shows her hand after the IV drip was put in. It became red, swollen and painful for her. It is not clear if the intravenous drip was contaminated.
Above is the mother’s limb after amputation. She fears that she will not be able to return to her job as a cashier, and her husband has had to leave her job to help out at home.
Ms Gomes disclosed her case in court papers this month, saying she had been too terrified to come forward sooner in case the hospital denied her further care.
The amputation has left her in fear of not being able to return to her job as a cashier after maternity leave, local publication. BALLOON reports.
Her husband, Marcio de Oliveira Barbosa, 27, has already had to quit his construction job to be able to help with the children, ages eight, four and now three months.
Ms. Gomes was admitted to Hospital da Mulher Intermédica Jacarepaguá in the 39th week of her pregnancy on October 9 of last year.
When the bleeding started, doctors inserted a Bakri balloon, a medical device that is placed in the uterus to reduce bleeding, and also put an intravenous drip in her hand to help administer the medication.
Ms. Silva is shown showing her left arm up while in the hospital.
The bleeding stopped, but her left hand began to swell, turned purple, and began to ache.
The doctors say that he had developed signs of ischemia in his left arm, where very little blood was reaching the extremity.
She was transferred to another hospital, Sao Goncalo, on October 11 and rushed to her intensive care ward.
Doctors tried to save her hand, but after treatment failed, it had to be amputated on October 16, six days after she gave birth.
She needed to return to the hospital again in mid-December when the bleeding from her vagina started again and doctors discovered that part of the placenta was still inside her.
The mother of three had ten prenatal visits before giving birth. No complications were detected during these, or during her birth.
gleice kelly said BALLOON: ‘They didn’t give me any justification (for the amputation), because the other hospital transferred me without much documentation.
So I’m looking for this answer. I don’t understand much about this part of the medicine, but I think it was a mistake.
Her lawyer, Monalisa Gagno, said: “They placed a Bakri balloon, which is inside the woman’s cervix, to try to stem the bleeding.
“(But) they were so worried about the bleeding that they didn’t worry about the vascular access, which ended up coming out of the vein and causing necrosis in his hand.”
Her lawyer added: ‘At no time was there any explanation from them and the doctors who treated her as to what happened to both the bleeding and the loss of her limb.
“There was no investigation, no one explained it to the family, neither at the time nor before the operation.”
Necrosis is the death of tissue in the body, which occurs when too little blood flows to the tissue.
It can be caused by bacterial infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis, when bacteria spread rapidly in an infected area, triggering cell death.
The disease develops when bacteria enter the body, often through a small cut or scrape. As they multiply, they release toxins that begin to destroy the surrounding tissue.
The bacteria will spread rapidly in the body, causing symptoms including bumps on the skin, bruising, sweating, fever, and nausea. Organ failure and shock are common complications.
Patients must be treated immediately to prevent death, and are usually given powerful antibiotics and surgery to remove dead tissue. Amputation may be necessary if the disease spreads through an arm or leg.
Cell death caused by necrosis cannot be reversed, doctors say.
There are about 1,000 cases of necrotizing fasciitis in the United States each year.
In a statement, the Hospital da Mulher Intermédica Jacarepaguá said that they are “totally in solidarity with the victim and deeply regret what happened.”
The hospital reiterated its ‘commitment to investigate with all seriousness, transparency and attention the medical and hospital procedures adopted during the care of the patient’.
“The hospital has contacted the patient and her representatives to provide all possible help and attend to her needs, as well as remain available for all necessary clarifications.”
NECROTIZING FASCIITIS: THE VICIOUS FLESH-EATING BACTERIA
The photo above shows a leg infected with necrotizing fasciitis.
Necrotizing fasciitis, more commonly known as “flesh-eating disease,” is a rare but extremely vicious bacterial infection. ‘Necrotizing’ refers to something that causes body tissue to die, and the infection can destroy skin, muscle and fat.
The disease develops when the bacteria enters the body, often through a small cut or scrape. As the bacteria multiply, they release toxins that kill the tissue and cut off blood flow to the area.
Because it is so virulent, the bacterium spreads rapidly throughout the body.
Symptoms include small red bumps or bumps on the skin, rapidly spreading bruises, sweating, chills, fever, and nausea. Organ failure and shock are also common complications.
Patients must be treated immediately to prevent death, and are usually given powerful antibiotics and surgery to remove dead tissue. Amputation may be necessary if the disease spreads through an arm or leg.
Patients may undergo skin grafts after the infection has cleared up, to aid in the healing process, or for cosmetic reasons.
Between 500 and 1,500 cases are reported a year, but between 20 and 25 percent of the victims die.
Necrosis is the irreversible process by which body tissue dies as a result of insufficient blood flow.
