Doctor Cleared In Paralysed Teen's Case

An investigation by United Christian Hospital has found there was no human error involved in the treatment of a 16-year-old girl who was left half paralysed from a stroke, after undergoing a blood plasma exchange procedure last year.

The girl, who was 15 years old at the time of the incident, was diagnosed with spinal cord inflammation last November.

After steroids did nothing to improve her condition, doctors at United Christian Hospital advised her to undergo plasmapheresis, a procedure to replace her blood plasma with plasma from a donor or a plasma substitute.

During the procedure, a doctor from the hospital’s paediatric intensive care unit inserted a catheter into a vein in the girl’s neck, a step necessary for the procedure.

The girl soon developed shock and blood accumulated in her chest and it was later found that one of her arteries had been punctured. She then had a stroke, which left her partially paralysed.

But an investigation by the hospital concluded that the doctor in charge had followed the necessary protocol and that there was no negligence or human error involved.

Dr Alan So, vice chairman of the Hospital Authority Central Coordinating Committee in Paediatrics, said the risks involved were explained to the girl's family beforehand.

The investigation also concluded that although a stroke is a very rare complication from the procedure, the doctor could have done a better job in warning the patient's family about the risk.

The girl's condition, meanwhile, is said to have stabilised. She is now receiving rehabilitation treatment, such as physiotherapy, limb movement training and speech therapy, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

But the family of the girl told the media later that they have decided to get their own experts to look into what happened.

The older brother of the girl, who would only identify himself as Chan, said the report has failed to address the fact that it took a long time for the the hospital to notice that his sister had suffered from a stroke, even though his mother had told the nurse about suspicious signs.

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