Helen Thompson achieves an early admission of liability for delayed diagnosis and treatment of Lisfranc injury at Eastbourne District Hospital

In January Ms M fell, twisting and injuring her left foot. Her foot was immediately swollen, bruised, extremely painful and she was unable to weight bear. She was taken straight to A&E at Eastbourne District Hospital. An xray was reported as showing no fracture and Ms M was told she had sprained her foot. She asked for crutches so that she could mobilise as she could not put any weight through the foot due to severe pain. Ms M was sent home with no follow up in place.

Over the next couple of months, Ms M's foot did not get better and she continued to experience severe pain, the foot became more swollen and severely bruised. Ms M consulted her GP and physiotherapists due to continuing pain and foot deformity and she was eventually seen by MSK physiotherapy in June, five months post injury.

An MRI scan of the foot was performed in July and reported as showing a previous Lisfranc injury to the foot which had been missed. Ms M was seen by Orthopaedics in September and after further consultations and scans, Ms M underwent a midfoot fusion operation in March – 14 months after the original injury.

Further to the midfoot fusion operation, Ms M continues to experience severe pain in the foot which remains significantly swollen. She is unable to wear a shoe on the foot and she is only able to mobilise in a surgical boot. She has been unable to return to work and her mobility and walking distance is significantly impaired due to pain. Ms M has also suffered psychological injury due to her ongoing pain and disability.

Had the injury been diagnosed in January, it was at the mild end of the spectrum of Lisfranc injuries and Ms M's foot would have been managed conservatively. She would have avoided the need for any surgery and she would have been able to return to comfortable walking within three months of injury and been able to return to work.

The defendant made an early admission that the original xray of Ms M's foot in January had been misinterpreted and that she should have been referred to Orthopaedics and had a CT scan of the foot. They admitted that she would not have required surgery and would have returned to normal walking within 12 weeks of injury.  The defendant reserved their position on the full extent of Ms M's injuries.

The claim will now be quantified and it is hoped that a swift settlement may be reached with the Trust.

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For further information about delayed diagnosis claims and medical negligence claims, please call Helen Thompson on 0330 460 6765 or email helen.thompson@fieldfisher.com.

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