A PAINTER and decorator died following internal bleeding when a surgical drain was removed nine days after major abdominal surgery, an inquest was told.

Malcolm Cotton, 53, who had pancreatic disease, died at Southampton General Hospital just a few hours after a nurse removed the drain.

Consultant surgeon Abu Halal told the inquest that the most likely explanation for the bleed was that when the drain was removed it dislodged a clip used to close an artery during the operation.

He said the removal of surgical drains – which are put in place to remove secretions – was normally a “simple and uncomplicated procedure”.

Mr Halal, who carried out the original surgery to remove part of the pancreas, told how he came to the hospital that night even though he was not on call because he knew exactly where to stop Mr Cotton’s bleed. However as he tried to fix the bleed Mr Cotton suffered a heart attack and died.

The inquest heard that since Mr Cotton’s death Mr Halal has asked all colleagues to remove drains before midday when all the surgical team is present – a policy welcomed by the family of Mr Cotton of Perowne Way, Sandown, Isle of Wight.

Southampton Coroner Keith Wiseman recorded a narrative verdict that Mr Cotton died when uncontrollable internal bleeding occurred in the area of the superior mesenteric artery, following the removal of a drain based in that area.