A 20-YEAR-OLD man has died from appendicitis after being diagnosed with 'constipation' four times in A&E.
The youngster went to the pictured Sant Joan de Déu hospital in Manresa (Barcelona province) complaining of severe abdominal pains on two occasions, and had also gone to the walk-in clinic in nearby Sant Salvador de Guardiola twice.
He was first told it was an 'upset stomach' at the local surgery, and then that it was 'constipation' by two different doctors in A&E, the second of whom carried out an X-ray.
On each visit, he was sent home.
The young man insisted on every trip that the pain was getting worse and becoming intolerable.
He went back to the walk-in centre on Tuesday, September 19 and saw the same doctor as before, who once again told him he was constipated and prescribed laxatives.
But the next day, he collapsed unconscious and was rushed back to A&E by ambulance.
Here, he was found to be in a critical condition with 'very advanced peritonitis', a life-threatening condition caused by untreated appendicitis, and was operated on twice.
The patient's family say he had a perforated intestine with 'pus spilling everywhere', which led to septic shock, causing multiple organ failure.
His parents say the hospital only carried out one X-ray during his four visits, and no other scans – a CAT scan would have shown up the appendicitis immediately and it could have been cured by a routine appendix-removal operation.
They plan to sue the Althaia Foundation, the trust which owns the district health service, for medical negligence.
According to the trust, 'professionals and management have been entirely at the family's service' and 'offered all current information available on the treatment process' since their son's first visit.
Trust managers are investigating the youth's full clinical history to ascertain whether the proper procedures were followed.
