Massage kept heart pumping

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 1

Massage kept heart pumping

a wbman patient's heart pumping ', for. 20 minutes during surgery at the Ashburton Hospital in July, the Coroner, Mr Nell Mac Lean, was told during an inquest in Christchurch yesterday. John Richard MacDonald, a specialist surgeon employed by the Ashburton Hospital Board, presented evidence to the inquest into the death of a Rangiora woman, Mrs Nancy Ruth Hendrle, aged 53. Mr MacDonald’s main evidence will be given on the second day of the hearing today, but his written brief was presented to the Coroner as yesterday’s sitting ended. Mrs Hendrie was admitted to the hospital on July 8 for surgery on an arm. Her medical history and a chest X-ray appeared normal. When he entered the operating theatre on July 9, at 9.10 a.m., the patient had been anaesthetised. She was a normal colour and there was no indlca-

supply to -the arm he was -to operate dri, and began the sur-’ gery at 9.20 a.m. From his operating position, he could not see the patient’s face. Twenty minutes later, the anaesthetist, Mr John Louw, told him there was something wrong with the patient. "I stood up and pulled. the drapes back and looked at- the patient’s face which was greyish white in colour and consistent with the patient having had a cardiac arrest” Mr MacDonald said. M’ ' -I •: There was no pulse or heart beat and he began external cardiac massage. This produced a ■ pulse but no spontaneous heart beat '-i A staff nurse took over .the . massage while he injected drugs to stimulate the patient’s heart and to correct acidosis. The massage continued until 10 a.m. when the heart beat suddenly returned. The patient

Mrs He ndrie Wdk put toto tte intensive care unit, and transferred to the unit in Christchurch the next day. She died on JUly ■ 13; - ■ ■■*?!<. ... Mr MacDonald said he could not recall if Mr Louw or the anaesthetic nurse assisting him, staff Nurse Hildegard O’Brien, left the theatre during the surgery. He was reasonably sure a tape machine was-j turnod on early in the surgery, well before there was any troublewiththe patient . . , ?.< : - He believed the ventilating machine alarm should 'have sounded if the ■ patient had become disconnected from the machine :0r if the pressure . needed; to deliver ox; lungs had become too high. % . J “I personally have no idea why this patient suffered difficulties during the course of this operation,” said Mr MacDonald. ;/ Earlier evidence, page