BABY WHO LOST 75% OF HIS BLOOD IN OP HELL; Boy died after artery puncture.

Byline: By SARAH STACK

A TRAGIC tot died after losing one and a half times his body's blood after a routine operation on his second birthday, an inquest heard yesterday.

Pierce Nowlan, a haemophiliac, had to have 1,200mls of fluid drained from his chest after doctors accidentally hit another blood vessel while trying to insert a tube into a vein.

Dublin City Coroner's Court heard the little boy - who received five units of blood - normally carried just 875mls of blood and had lost 75 per cent of it.

Pierce was admitted to Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, on October 11, 2004, to have a device fitted into a vein for regular injection of a blood-clotting agent.

During the procedure doctors punctured the subclavian blood vessel in his chest, causing internal bleeding which went unnoticed for more than an hour.

The oxygen flow to his brain was lowered, leaving him brain-damaged and he died three days later.

The court heard paediatric surgeon Dr Alan Mortell had carried out the procedure a number of times and had no evidence the toddler was in difficulty during or after the procedure.

Coroner Dr Brian Farrell heard that six to eight attempts were made on the vein in the child's chest by consultant anaesthetist Dr Martina Healy, but were unsuccessful.

Dr Mortell said he was aware at least one hit had punctured the chest artery, but pressure had been applied to it for five minutes. A line was successfully entered into the child's neck. Records taken by the anaesthetist during the operation revealed changes in Pierce's vital signs and a bleed.

Dr Mortell said: "I didn't have any indication he was in serious difficulty at the time I left."

Surgical registrar Feilim Murphy was called to the recovery room to care for Pierce who had suffered a cardiac arrest, and aggressive resuscitation was carried out to save him.

The inquest is being held in full after Pierce's parents Stephen and Jean Nowlan, of Carrigmore Green, Saggart, Co Dublin, called on Justice Minister Michael McDowell to change legislation.

An amendment to the Coroner's Act last December allows for more than two medical practitioners to give evidence.

More medical witnesses will testify when the inquest resumes next week.

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CAPTION(S):

VICTIM: Pierce Nowlan' CAMPAIGN: Stephen and Jean Nowlan' INQUEST: Hospital in Crumlin