It was supposed to be a routine medical procedure for a teenage girl.
A small cyst had developed just under Jessica Williams’ ear, and a 20-minute surgery was scheduled to remove it.
By the end of the day, the Burbank girl was in the burn unit at Loyola University Medical Center, with burns to her face and neck.
“I was pacing, crying, trying to get answers,” said her mother, Danette Williams. “I wanted to know: How could this have happened?”
More than two years later, the Williams family has some answers, thanks to a $400,000 settlement of a lawsuit they brought against MacNeal Hospital and the nurse involved in her daughter’s surgery.
They also have learned about what their attorney, Kevin G. Burke, says is a growing problem that needs to be addressed — operating room fires caused by the release of oxygen into the room and the ignition of devices that can cause fires on patients’ bodies.
Worse yet, Burke said, there’s nothing requiring doctors or hospitals to report such incidents, leaving many in the dark about what could be a growing problem.
“Between 100 and 200 are reported every year, but there is also an admission that these are underreported,” he said. “This is more of a problem than anyone thinks.”
In Jessica’s case, she was slightly sedated, and a tube ran to her nose. When it came time to put an oxygen mask over her face, someone in the operating room failed to remove the tube, allowing oxygen from the mask to escape into the room. When a cauterizing device was turned on to remove the cyst, oxygen caused it to ignite.
Jessica’s burns ran along the lines of the tube. Her right eye was burned shut, and flames that went into her mouth and nose also caused in injuries.
Jessica remembers none of it, but her mother credits the care her daughter put into treating her wounds — “along with a lot of prayer” — in bringing about noticeable recovery.
But Jessica still has trouble breathing at times and suffers some scarring, she said. Doctors won’t know the whole impact for years to come.
Calling it “completely preventable,” Danette Williams wants more attention brought to such incidents, including a reporting requirement.
Later this year, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is expected to release a list of guidelines on preventing such incidents, a spokeswoman said.