A five-year-old girl with a rare vomiting syndrome died after a tonsil operation at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, and a coroner has said she should have been immediately readmitted when she began vomiting. Amber Milnes, who suffered from cyclical vomiting syndrome (CVS), underwent a 38-minute tonsillectomy on 5 April 2023 and was discharged within hours. She began vomiting the next morning and died four days later from an infection and haemorrhage.
Senior coroner Andrew Cox concluded that the surgeon, Kel Anyanwu, should have consulted paediatric colleagues who knew more about CVS and that Amber should have been kept in hospital overnight. He said: 'Potential complications from the triggering of a CVS episode by the operation were readily foreseeable and it may well have been prudent for Amber to have been kept in overnight. Once she started vomiting, I’m of the view she should have been immediately readmitted.'
The inquest heard that Amber's parents, Lewis and Sereta Milnes, had called the hospital after she began vomiting and were advised to wait. She vomited about 20 times before they took her back at 10pm on 6 April. On 9 April, she suffered an infection and haemorrhage. Mr Anyanwu told the inquest he had never seen a death from a tonsillectomy in his 25 years at the hospital and described the operation as 'quiet in terms of blood loss'.
The coroner noted that informed consent could not have been fully given because Mr Anyanwu did not fully understand CVS. However, he said he could not determine that Amber's death could have been prevented if she had been kept in or readmitted sooner. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust accepted the findings and said it would make further changes to improve care.
Amber's parents described her as 'the happiest little girl' and said they never thought she might die from having her tonsils out. They encouraged other families to trust their instincts and ask questions, noting that no operation is risk-free.
