A SURGEON has told a coroner that with the benefit of hindsight he would have recommended a patient not to undergo hernia surgery.

Consultant surgeon Peter Marsh was commenting at an inquest following the death of widow Kathryn Tracy Griffiths.

Mrs Griffiths, a mother-of-five, died as a result of a “recognised complication of surgery”, assistant coroner Joanne Lees concluded.

A hearing at Ruthin was told Mrs Griffiths, 55, of Heol Bennion, Cefn Mawr, had gone to Wrexham Maelor Hospital on September 29 last year for elected hernia treatment.

She was considered to be at a higher risk of complications because she was suffering from liver cirrhosis as a result of alcohol misuse.

The inquest heard Mrs Griffiths, who had worked as a school escort, attended the Maelor for what was thought to be a fairly routine operation to remove two hernias by Mr Marsh.

Mrs Lees asked Mr Marsh if he had discussed the risks of not surviving the surgery with Mrs Griffiths during a pre-operation assessment.

He replied that he had not. Although those suffering with cirrhosis could suffer complications, he believed the surgery and recovery would be relatively straightforward.

But he admitted that, in hindsight, he would have advised Mrs Griffiths against having the operation.

Mr Marsh said he had no concerns about performing the surgery that day, even though there was an increased risk of bleeding due to Ms Griffiths’ past medical history,

He said some bleeding from a vein during the surgery was routinely controlled and the procedure was completed without further incident.

It was while in recovery that Mrs Griffiths, who had previously had breast cancer, was found to be suffering from low blood pressure.

Although Mr Marsh did not consider it immediately likely that this was due to internal bleeding, the complication escalated fairly quickly and within two hours phone calls were being made by anaesthetist Dr Richard Dodwell to Mr Marsh and on-call consultant Michael Thornton as Mrs Griffiths was in some distress.

Mrs Griffiths was taken for corrective surgery where it was discovered she was bleeding from a very large vein present behind one of the hernias but the vein, although clearly identifiable on a CT scan which had not been seen by Mr Marsh, would have been hidden from sight during the initial operation where it was likely to have been damaged during the hernia repair.

Despite the bleed being contained, Mrs Griffiths never recovered and died at the hospital on October 21, with the result of a post-mortem examination showing she had died as a result of a peritonitis caused by liver cirrhosis and hernia repair.

Providing a narrative conclusion Mrs Lees said the most likely cause of the bleed was when the hidden vein was damaged during the surgery but that it was not apparent that his had happened during the operation itself.

She said: “She had a history of liver cirrhosis due to alcohol misuse and had been identified as a high risk for surgery.

“Post surgery, by about 5.45pm-6pm, the deceased became unwell, with signs of an intra-abdominal bleed, the most likely cause of which was an injury to a vein during the hernia repair.

“The deceased later underwent further corrective surgery later that evening to control the bleeding, but despite treatment, she sadly deteriorated and later passed away.”

Mrs Lees said any family complaint against Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was a separate issue.