Bilateral Ureter and Bladder Injuries During Hysterectomy Bring $1.5 Million Settlement

A 36-year-old woman sought care from a gynecologist for chronic pelvic pain. She was diagnosed with stage II endometriosis and consented to a laparoscopic hysterectomy combined with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. What followed was a cascade of surgical errors that left her with permanent urinary tract damage and a period of acute kidney failure.

During the procedure, the surgeon entered the bladder without recognizing the intrusion and continued operating. He clamped, transected, and sutured one ureter entirely and obstructed the other. The trigone area of the bladder was perforated. Frank blood appeared in the patient's urine after surgery, but no one investigated the finding, and she was discharged the following day.

Five days later she returned to the office with nausea, vomiting, fever, and sharply reduced urine output. The physician did not order imaging or admit her to the hospital. She drove herself to the emergency room, where a CT scan revealed fluid accumulating in her abdomen along with hydronephrosis and acute kidney failure caused by urine leaking from the injured ureters.

Surgeons performed emergency procedures to reimplant both ureters and repair the bladder. The complications did not end there. She later required additional surgery to correct a urinary fistula, developed recurrent urinary tract infections and kidney infections, and was left with diminished bladder sensation from nerve damage. Past medical damages were documented at $166,447 and projected future damages at $361,976.

Howard Bullock and William Kilduff of Emroch and Kilduff in Richmond represented the patient. The case resolved on May 18, 2023, in Fredericksburg Circuit Court for $1,500,000.