A man is to receive an over 60,000-euro payout after a misdiagnoses in 2019 at the area hospital in Guadix meant that he lost a testicle.
It was on the 30th of October close to midnight that a 26-year-old man arrived at the A&E at the Hospital de Alta Resolución de Guadix. He explained to the doctor on duty that one of his testicles was very painful following a fall at work.
The doctor carried out tests but not with the sufficient alacrity that would have avoided him having a testicle extirpated. Because of the delay in the correct diagnosis Judge Estrella Cañavate sentenced, on the 2nd of November this year, that the Andalusian Health Service should pay 68,358 euros in compensation. The SAS can enter an appeal, however.
The man had originally claimed directly from SAS but they had rejected his claim on the 18th of November 2020, so he decided to take his case before a court of law. After examining the hospital documentation and reports from experts, the judge decided that the 12-hour delay in the correct diagnosis led to the patient being transferred to the Hospital Virgen de las Nieves in Granada for surgical intervention. The delay, the judge considers, eliminated the chance of avoiding the loss of his testicle.
His lawyer had explained that the physical examination that took place at 00.14h diagnosed a “engorged left testicle, painful when palpitated” Later, at 01.23h, the diagnosis was that it was bruised (hematoma) but no further examination was considered. It wasn’t until the morning at the Servicio de Cuidados Polivalentes at the same hospital that a serious inflammation and erythema was noted so it was decided to use doppler ultrasonography which allows examination of blood flow to an affected area.The result was that they diagnosed ischaemia, which is a restriction in blood supply, twelve hours after attending the A&E.
He was transferred to the Urology Department at the Hospital Virgen de las Nieves where it was decided to extirpate the affected testicle because of necrosis.
(News: Guadix, Guadix & Montes Orientales, Granada, Andalucia)