McMaster Children’s Hospital resumes tonsil and adenoid surgeries after deaths

A hospital in Hamilton is set to resume its tonsil and adenoid surgical program after the deaths of two children in the post-op recovery stage halted the program for months.

The McMaster Children’s Hospital will resume tonsil and adenoid surgeries on Oct. 7.

The program was put on hold June 4 following the deaths of two children who underwent the routine procedure at the hospital in May and June and died in their recovery period.

One child died the day after the surgery, while the second died nine days after the initial procedure. Both were discharged from the hospital after their surgeries.

Hamilton Health Sciences says a panel of independent experts conducted a review of its pediatric ear, nose and throat surgical services for tonsil and adenoid surgeries.

In a statement the hospital said: “The review is now complete and did not identify any specific actions, absence of actions, quality of care concerns, or systems issues that directly or indirectly contributed to the two deaths.”

Alongside the external review, Hamilton Health Services conducted internal quality of care reviews “in an effort to see what [they] could learn from these cases, which will inform changes to policies and procedures.”

Hamilton Health Services added that it “takes these incidents and experiences very seriously and is confident that these changes will help to ensure that we are delivering the best care and experience for patients and their families.”

Hospital staff is in the process of contacting patients and families to schedule surgeries.