Graphic warning: Some of the images included in this article are graphic and may be disturbing.
At just over a week old, a baby Calgary girl has already undergone an incredible battle.
First-time parents Dharik and Vrunda Patel noticed their six-day-old daughter wasn’t eating or sleeping properly. They took her to Alberta Children’s Hospital for a closer look.
The Patels say their yet-unnamed baby girl was given antibiotics through intravenous (IV) therapy for an infection.
“They didn’t check it for six hours,” Dharik Patel told Global News.
“Her skin was ruptured. Fluid was coming out of it; there was fluid all over the place. She was in a lot of pain.”
An Alberta Health Services (AHS) spokesperson said they can’t comment on specific cases due to privacy concerns, but emphasized it is protocol to check IVs every hour.
AHS has now launched an investigation to find out exactly what happened.
“We take their concern–and every concern–very seriously,” AHS chief medical health officer Dr. Francois Belanger said.
“We have a commitment to safety to review this and do everything we can so this doesn’t happen again.”
IVs are used in all hospitals multiple times a day, according to AHS, and complications are more common than many people may think.
“IV fluid can infiltrate into the tissue around the catheter in up to six per cent of cases of adults and 11 per cent of children,” Belanger said.
Belanger said there are multiple reasons the rate is higher in children, one being that their veins are smaller and the catheter can slip out more easily.
This is the second high-profile case in which a young child’s hand has been seriously damaged in Alberta this year.
In January, a three-year-old girl’s hand was so badly damaged she needed surgery.
That case is currently under investigation, which is now almost complete.
Luckily, the baby girl in Calgary didn’t need surgery, but her parents still don’t know if she’ll suffer any long-term damage.
“We don’t know if her hand nerves are OK yet,” Patel said. “Until she gets a little older, there’s no way to know what’s going on.”
AHS expects its investigation into the Patel case to be wrapped up in the next three months. After they figure out what happened, recommendations will be made to avoid it happening again.
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While there’s still no confirmed cause of either complication, Patel said he’s frustrated AHS didn’t learn enough from the Edmonton case to stop it from happening to his daughter.
“I’m hoping they truly follow up on this and make a change,” Patel said.
AHS says change is coming to Alberta Children’s Hospital very soon.
“A significant initiative is starting at Children’s, looking at increasing awareness to IV infiltration,” Belanger said.
AHS says that initiative was in the works well before the Patel’s case and will start April 2.
A statement from the hospital reads:
“A major safety initiative related to the prevention of hospital-acquired conditions, including IV injury called ‘Safest Together’ is being implemented at the Alberta Children’s Hospital starting on April 2. This initiative was planned prior to this unfortunate incident. This program will serve to educate and reinforce best practices for intravenous therapy in pediatric patients.
This initiative is part of a network of over 150 children’s hospitals across North America called the Solutions for Patient Safety Network that work together to eliminate harm across all children’s hospitals.”
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