A MAN died while doctors attempted to anaesthetise him before an operation.
An inquest in Mold heard that Albert Graham Pearce, 67, a retired driver from Rowden Street, Shotton, was admitted to Wrexham Maelor hospital on July 12, 2011, for throat surgery to remove polyps.
He arrived before noon and was prepared for surgery.
At 2.45pm his wife Christine was contacted and asked to come to the hospital where she was told her husband had died.
Doctors had been unable to insert a tube between Mr Pearce’s vocal cords and, despite an emergency tracheotomy, he was deprived of oxygen for 20 minutes.
A post mortem examination revealed that a cancerous growth had blocked the airway behind the vocal cords.
North East and Central Wales coroner John Gittings gave the cause of death as hypoxic brain injury due to failed intubation, with contributory ischemic heart disease.
Mr Gittings said he welcomed increased use of CT scans before similar surgical procedures at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
He said: “It is necessary in all of these cases to optimise circumstances for anaesthetists to do their job properly.”
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.