ULSAN — A 27-month-old girl who went into cardiac arrest while under general anesthesia at an eye clinic in Ulsan died 11 days after the incident. Police have changed the charge against the medical staff to professional negligence resulting in death and are focusing their investigation on the possibility that anesthesia equipment was wrongly connected.
Cardiac Arrest Under General Anesthesia, Death 11 Days Later
According to Ulsan Jungbu Police Station and other sources on the 16th, the girl, identified only as A, died on the afternoon of the 13th after going into cardiac arrest while receiving general anesthesia at an eye clinic in Jung-gu, Ulsan, on the 2nd.
A was about to undergo surgery to treat entropion, a condition in which eyelashes turn inward and irritate the cornea.
A regained a heartbeat after receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation and being taken to a nearby hospital, but never regained consciousness. She was later transferred to a university hospital in another region for treatment but ultimately died.
A's parents filed a criminal complaint against the clinic's medical staff on the 4th, two days after the incident.
Following A's death, police changed the charge against three medical staff — the clinic director, the operating surgeon and a freelance anesthesiologist — from professional negligence resulting in injury to professional negligence resulting in death.
An autopsy was conducted on the 15th to determine the exact cause of death, and police searched the clinic and seized records related to the surgery and anesthesia.
Suspected Wrong Connection of Oxygen Supply, Operating Room Camera Not Recording
The focus of the police investigation is whether oxygen was supplied properly during the anesthesia. One possibility now under consideration is that the air supply and exhaust circuits on the anesthesia equipment were connected in reverse.
The freelance doctor who administered the anesthesia is reported to have told the family that, while checking the equipment several days after the incident, the two circuits appeared to have been switched.
Another possibility raised is that a problem with the oxygen supply during anesthesia caused hypoxia. The actual condition of the equipment connections and whether the medical staff were negligent have not yet been established.
Police have questioned some of the nursing staff on duty at the time and are arranging a date for the anesthesiologist to appear for questioning. They plan to determine the cause by reviewing the seized evidence, statements from those involved, and the results of the autopsy and expert analysis.
The fact that the operating room's closed-circuit television was not recording is also under investigation. The clinic has explained that staff were unable to turn on the recording device, which had to be switched on manually, while trying to soothe the crying child, and that the failure to record was not intentional.
Police plan to seek legal advice on whether the surgery was subject to mandatory camera recording under the Medical Service Act before determining whether there was a violation.
A's mother recently announced her daughter's death on social media and appealed for the facts to be established. She said she wanted to know whether the incident could have been prevented and, if so, why it was not, urging a thorough investigation into what happened.