An 84-year-old patient with esophageal cancer died on the second day after thoracic surgery.
Died on the second day after surgery
This was a multidisciplinary case jointly managed by medical oncology and geriatrics. However, the medical records contained no indication of this. As a result, the case should be graded as a failure.
What does this mean? Medicine is a field where correctness depends on following proper procedures. This case should have first gone through the multidisciplinary gateway before any discussion of next steps. Instead, it went straight through the smaller door of thoracic surgery without entering the larger one. This represents a fundamental error in principle, which is why it received a failing grade. A failing grade here means the error is inexcusable.
The patient's family indirectly contacted our website before the surgery. We advised against proceeding with the operation, but the family ultimately chose to go ahead. The core issue remains the need for direct contact with our site rather than reaching out through intermediaries.