Woman died from perforated oesophagus, inquest hears

The inquest is being held at the Council House in Nottingham

An inquest has heard how a woman died from a perforated oesophagus after a medical procedure which involved passing a tube down her throat.

Anita Burkey, who was 85, is among four patients to have died after having an endoscopy performed by the same doctor.

She was originally admitted to Nottingham City Hospital after experiencing abdominal pain.

An inquest is being held into the deaths of all four patients.

The other patients were William Doleman, Carol Cole and Peter Sellars, and they were all treated by gastroenterologist Muthuram Rajaram.

The inquest has heard that Mrs Burkey, who had dementia, was admitted to hospital on 2 March 2020.

She had the procedure - known in full as an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) - on 19 March.

Dr Irshad Soomro, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Mrs Burkey, said he found pus surrounding her oesophagus.

The oesophagus, also known as the food pipe, is a muscular tube through which food passes into a person's stomach

He said she died two weeks after the procedure - on 5 April - from sepsis, which is a life-threatening response to infection.

This sepsis was a result of her oesophagus being perforated, Dr Soomro said.

Mrs Burkey was advised to have the procedure by Prof Guruprasad Padur Aithal.

The coroner, Laurinda Bower, asked him about the risks of the procedure.

He said: "The risks are bleeding and perforation. They are all significant risks, which are on the consent form."

The coroner asked if the risks of the procedure were explained to Mrs Burkey, and he said they were.

Her proposed cause of death, subject to the inquest completing, is sepsis, perforation of the oesophagus, and dementia.

The inquest continues.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]