KATHMANDU: Kathmandu based Om Hospital & Research Centre is seeing a tense-situation today following the death of a patient who underwent gallbladder surgery last Friday.

Fifty-year-old Ram Piyari Thapa Magar -- a permanent resident of Sindhupalchok district who had currently been residing in New Baneshwar, Kathmandu -- died on Thursday morning while under treatment at the hospital.

Last week, on Thursday, Magar was admitted to the hospital after she was diagnosed with gallstones, one of her relatives, Rita Magar told THT Online.

According to Rita, a team of doctors led by Dr Robin Koirala had performed surgery on the patient on Friday and they had later informed that Ram Piyari had contracted an infection in her lungs along with a minor injury in her small intestine. Rita said that the doctors assured the relatives of the patient that there was nothing to worry. However, on Sunday, the doctors carried out another operation on the patient's small intestine without informing the patient party that she had developed a serious problem in her intestine.

The relatives are of the opinion that the doctors injured the patient's intestine by accidentally cutting a hole during the operation on her gall bladder. Alleging the doctors of negligence, the patients kin staged a protest on premises of the hospital demanding compensation and action against those involved in the surgery.

Meanwhile the hospital administration, in a press conference today, has shed light into the process of treatment, surgeries and complications that surfaced in Ram Piyari Magar's case.

Addressing the media, Medical Director of the hospital Dr KP Devkota shared the proceedings in Magar's treatment. He said the gall bladder surgery carried out on Magar was not a common one as she had already undergone three surgeries prior to this, including one of her uterus.

Dr Devkota went on to explain that the surgeon, Dr Koirala, was aware of the complications that could arise in operating his patient due to her previous surgeries. He had provided the same counselling to the patient's relatives. The surgeon had apprised Magar's relatives that it would be a time-consuming surgery and that complications could arise in the process. With the green signal from the patient's side, he proceeded, on Friday, with the laparoscopic surgery of the gallbladder, which is a minimally invasive procedure that requires only small incisions.

While carrying out the operation, the doctor's team detected various complications such as the gall bladder being attached to the liver and intestines attached together. Despite the complications, the gallbladder was removed successfully, stated Dr Devkota. He added that the surgeon examined the patient further to make sure there weren't any other problems.

However, on Saturday, the patient started feeling some discomfort following which she was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit on Sunday. After carrying out further tests, the doctors diagnosed that she had pneumonia. Magar's health started deteriorating then after.

Different investigations were carried out which led to a finding that the patient had developed symptoms of sepsis, which is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body's response to an infection, the cause of which was unknown.

The surgeon then checked the abdomen once again and headed for a second surgery to find that there was a hole in the patient's intestine. However, her vitals were not stable due to which further procedure to mend the hole could not be carried out. The sepsis had started damaging her organs.

And while she was receiving treatment from various experts, Ram Piyari Magar was pronounced dead at around 7:00 am on Thursday.