A WIDOW suffered multiple organ failure after having a full hip replacement, an inquest found.

Renie Craig, 77, died at Preston Royal Hospital nearly two months after the elective procedure which was carried out at Burnley General Hospital.

Mrs Craig, a retired drafter person from Oswaldtwistle, opted to have the surgery after being left in pain because of arthritis in her right hip.

The Blackburn inquest heard how the procedure was carried out on February 9 following pre-op assessment.

The operation had originally been deemed a success but two days later Mrs Craig was transferred to Blackburn Royal Hospital when her blood pressure dropped, multiple organs began to fail and she became unresponsive. She had been given a blood transfusion at Burnley and fitted with a cannula, but that had not worked.

She was sedated and placed in intensive care with liver failure, but after treatment started to improve.

On March 3, Mrs Craig was transferred to Preston Royal Hospital for a skin graft and treatment on an infected wound in her right arm which had been caused when the cannula either fell out or became loose.

In the early hours of March 25, whilst recovering from that operation she suffered an ‘unwitnessed fall’ and dislocated her replacement hip when attempting to get out of bed to use the toilet. The hip was successfully re-attached that day.

On March 28 Mrs Craig complained of chest pains and an X-ray revealed air under the diaphragm. It was later discovered she had a perforated bowel.

Mrs Craig’s family were consulted about surgery, but given the high mortality rate associated with the operation they decided to let her die with dignity. She died at RPH on March 31.

Blackburn coroner Michael Singleton said: “The conclusion that I reach is complications arising from elective hip surgery. Having the surgery was the trigger.

“That’s not to say it was the wrong decision to perform the surgery.”