Hi everyone,
I recently read about the death of a Dr Guichet patient called Yush Gupta due to fat embolism. I just wanted to ask about how common this is and the chances of it happening with someone like Dr Paley or Dr Mahboubian with a stryde nail where you walk soon after the surgery?
It wasn't a fat embolism but a pulmonary embolism. Fat embolism is a rare event that can only occur up to 72 hours post-OP. During this time you're in a hospital setting and educated nurses/doctors should manage this complication wth appropriate equipment. Fat embolisms occur when doctors don't vent the channel in the bone.
Mr Gupta suffered from a pulmonary embolism. He had to cough while he was on the phone with his father who told him to call an ambulance. Coughing ist THAT symptom for a pulmonary embolism and if it occurs you have to act quickly. As far as i understood, he denied going to the emergency department which was his death sentence. I also think that Mr Guichet didn't prescribe xarelto to him. Just aspirin, if any. Moreover, Mr Gupta was in a foreign country. He was probably not familiar whom to call in that case.
Very sad story because his death could have been prevented.