Surgeon tells inquest 'there was no plan B' for woman who died after surgery complications
A coroner concluded that a woman died following a complication of surgery after being told of her widower's concerns.
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Ann Elizabeth Preece from Telford suffered from what was described as a "giant hiatus hernia" when her stomach became twisted up into her chest and she had to be rushed into hospital in December last year.
Paul Preece, the 75 year-old's widower, told the inquest in Shrewsbury on Thursday that his wife had been vomiting blood at home and in the ambulance.
He said that a paramedic had described her as 'bleeding'.
But the surgeon who operated to put her stomach "back into the abdomen" at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on December 10, 2023, a day after she was admitted, categorically denied that the fluid Mr Preece had seen was blood. He said it was gastric fluid.
After being discharged home after the operation on December 13, she had to be rushed into the Princess Royal Hospital a few days later before being transferred to the RSH.
Mrs Preece died at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on December 16, 2023. She succumbed after her stomach developed a hole, and bodily fluids infected her system, causing peritonitis.
Bariatric surgeon Mr Manel Riera told Shropshire Senior Coroner John Ellery that he had discussed the options with Mrs Preece and she understood the risks of going ahead with surgery or not.
"She was aware that the surgery was not without risk," he said. "If we did not do anything there was a probability that her life would be at risk.
