A RETIRED roofer from Nelson died as a result of heart failure brought on by surgery on his bowel.

Nigel Bell, who was admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital with abdominal pains on June 13 this year, died 12 days later in the critical care unit following a ‘technically successful’ operation.

Blackburn Coroner’s Court was told that Mr Bell, who was 57, had to have his bowel removed as it had become potentially fatal, and that he died because of the resultant stress on his heart.

Coroner Michael Singleton heard that Mr Bell, of Victory Close, Nelson, had previously undergone surgery in 1982, which had left him with two scars.

Surgeons said they found his bowel ‘full’ as the distal end of the organ was ‘closed over’, meaning it was almost at bursting point.

Independent pathologist Dr Stephen Mills, who carried out a post-mortem operation on Mr Bell’s body, said he had discovered evidence of atheroma affecting major blood vessels, previous heart attacks, and an accumulation of blood in his lungs.

Dr Mills gave the medical cause of death as acute left ventricular failure due to a combination of ischaemic heart disease and ischaemic bowel disease.

Mr Singleton said he could not record a conclusion of natural causes because of Dr Mills’s assertion that surgery had placed ‘an additional strain’ on Mr Bell’s heart.

Recording a narrative verdict, he said: “I am satisfied that on June 17 Mr Bell underwent bowel surgery at Royal Blackburn Hospital and that the presence of an ischaemic bowel led to the removal of the bowel.

“The pathologist tells me that surgery was technically successful.

However, the fact that the bowel had become ischemic and the heart was weak as a result of the impact of surgery, led to the heart failure Mr Bell suffered, and he lost his life.”