A 2-year-old girl has remained unconscious for five days after suffering cardiac arrest during general anesthesia at an eye clinic in Ulsan, prompting police to open an investigation. The child's guardians filed a complaint against hospital staff, while the hospital said the anesthetic dosage was normal but that an inadequate oxygen supply during the procedure caused the incident.
According to the Ulsan Jungbu Police Station and the Ulsan Fire Department, a 119 emergency call was received at around 11:26 a.m. Saturday reporting that a 27-month-old girl, identified only as A, had gone into cardiac arrest while under general anesthesia at an eye clinic in Jung-gu, Ulsan.
The girl received CPR and was transported to a nearby hospital, where her heartbeat was restored during emergency treatment.
She was subsequently transferred to a university hospital in the area, where she remains under treatment. As of Tuesday, she had not regained consciousness.
At the time, the girl had been scheduled to undergo surgery for entropion — a condition in which the eyelashes turn inward and irritate the cornea.
Her guardians filed a complaint against hospital staff on Sunday.
Police have booked those involved on charges including professional negligence causing bodily harm and have secured medical records — including nursing and anesthesia logs — to investigate the circumstances of the incident and whether the treatment administered was appropriate.
The hospital said a closed-circuit television camera is installed in the operating room but that no footage was recorded at the time.
Police are also verifying whether footage actually exists and whether it was recorded.
A hospital official told Yonhap by phone that an internal review found the anesthetic dosage had been normal, but that the incident appeared to have been caused by an inadequate oxygen supply during the anesthesia process. "The anesthesiologist in charge has acknowledged the mistake," the official said. "We are cooperating with the police investigation and will do everything we can to help the child recover."
yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com
