Delayed diagnosis of hand fracture
When Mark was playing football, he sustained an injury to his left hand. The next day, he visited the local accident and emergency department and an x-ray was carried out on his wrist. He was seen by a triage nurse, a doctor and then subsequently discharged home.
Five days later the hospital received the x-ray results which showed an undisplaced fracture of the left scaphoid (hand bone). Despite the test results, Mark was not recalled to the hospital and the report was not sent to his GP.
Eighteen months later, Mark visited his GP after falling onto his hand and, following an examination, he was referred for physiotherapy. It was noted that Mark’s hand was painful when the doctor touched the left anatomical snuff box (a triangular deepening on the hand at the base of the thumb). He was referred to a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and subsequent x-rays identified a malunited fracture of the scaphoid bone and possible necrosis (death of the surrounding tissue).
As a result of the hospital’s failure to diagnose and treat the scaphoid fracture in the first instance, Mark had to undergo a bone graft.
After the surgery, Mark experienced a lot of pain and discomfort in his wrist and his grip remained weak and his range of movement restricted. Consequently, he was unable to return to his previous job which involved a lot of manual handling and he had to re-train in a different field.
Mark is likely to develop increasing pain and discomfort over time and within a period of twenty years he will require a wrist arthrodesis (surgical procedure whereby bones are fused together).
Mark also suffered with an adjustment disorder and developed a coping strategy in the form of excessive alcohol consumption. He showed early features of an alcohol dependency syndrome and was advised to engage in an effective treatment programme.
Mark pursued a claim against Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust on the basis that if he had received the correct diagnosis and treatment at the time of the original injury the fracture would have united and his later problems would have been avoided.
With the help of one of our medical negligence solicitors, a settlement of £145,000 was achieved.
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