DEATH UNDER ANAESTHETIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17167, 22 May 1919, Page 7

DEATH UNDER ANAESTHETIC

PATIENT IN THE HOSPITAL.

"ALL PRECAUTIONS TAKEN."

The death, under an anesthetic, of j : William Thomas Tyler, a married man. j 1 aged 38, late of Nihotupu, at the hospital. 1 j on Tuesday night, formed the subject of . an inquest, held by the coroner, Mr. J. E. , Wilson, S.M., at the morgue yesterday. I Dr. C. F. Maguire, medical superiuten- I dent of the hospital, who admitted the j deceased, on Friday, stated that Tyler had been an influenza patient at the hospital, and as he said, had been discharged only a week before the second entry. Close questions, however, revealed a defective memory. He seemed seriously ill. Observation showed that he was suffering | from lethargic encephalitis. In order to ] aid diagnosis, and also as a means of treatment, an examination of the cerebro- ' spinal fluid was necessary. The operation I was performed by inserting a thin hollow , needle between the lumbar vertebrae. An ! anaesthetic was necessary as the patient appeared nervous. Witness considered death to be due to failure of the respiration rather than, as had been suggested, to a weak condition of the heart. A postmortem examination revealed congestion of the membranes of the brain. There | were also- hemorrhages and an excess of, cerebro spinal fluid. It was one of the i exceptional cases in which the immediate cause of respiratory. failure could not be ascertained. Dr. S. L. Ludbrook said that after having satisfied himself that the patient- was a fit-subject, he administered chloroform. Deceased struggled for ahout 30 second', j and then calmed suddenly. Witness then noticed that breathing Lad ceased. An , application of artificial respiration for about ten seconds resulted h a resump- ! tion of breathing, which continued for !50 seconds and then stopped again. Finj ther respiratory methods wore unavailing. | An operation under the same anesthetic jon Monday was accompanied by strugj gl;ng, but was otherwise quite successful. Drs. J. F. Moore and W. H. Horton gave similar evidence. In the course of , his evidence, Dr. Horton said:—"ln the present state of our medical knowledge it ' lis impossible from a physical examina-j I tion before an oporation to estimate the; i liability of any particular patient to: I respiratory failure. Ibis is independent f of the disease of tho patient." j James Tyler, brother of the deceased, ■ ! said that since an attack r.i influenza in I November, deceased had complained of extreme weakness and inability to sleep. I The finding was that death was due to I respiratorv failure while under an j anaesthetic. All precautions were taken i before, the operation, and all means adopted to revive the patient on collapse, j