A "FIT and healthy" teenager died during routine operation for an infected ear piercing, a coroner has heard. Holly Fairchild, 16, didn't like a scar on her left ear caused by an infected cartilage piercing and was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital for surgery. 3 Holly was admitted to GOSH to fix her left ear after it suffered from an infection Credit: Alamy 3 The fit and healthy teenager was soon struck by shock complications Credit: PA:Press Association Holly, a "very active'" and talented footballer from Haddenham, a small village near Oxford, previously went under general anaesthesia with no issue, St Pancras Coroner's Court heard.
But on August 26 last year she died at Great Ormond Street Hospital two days after a routine appointment. It was after the delicate surgery had gone smoothly and Dr Neil Bulstrode left theatre that Holly developed a severe form of laryngospasm. Doctors described it to her parents as her vocal cords having "slammed shut".
The side effect is common among children under general anaesthetic, explained Dr Lignos. Normally, pressure and the use of propofol, an anaesthetic, will relieve the issue. But in Holly's case this did not work.
She began to suffer from an associated condition called negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE), which draws fluid from the blood vessels into the lungs. Most read in Health SPOT ON Ex-top ref reveals Scotland v Hungary penalty U-turn after taking closer look BATTERY BLAZE 20 dead in massive inferno after explos.