Complication or not?

My younger brother had robotic surgery to remove his prostate five weeks ago today.
Last night he had emergency surgery because four feet of his small intestine had gotten through a hole (in something that shouldn't have holes) into places it should not be. The intestine was pinched off and just starting to develop gangrene. He was a very unhappy camper for a couple of days before this was diagnosed, in the hospital on pain meds as they tried to figure out what the problem was.
I'm thinking it's a coincidence but don't know enough about his surgery or the location of the hole to know.
Opinions?

It sounds like a complication to me as well. The robotic procedure involves inflating the abdominal cavity to provide a field of vision for the surgeon. While this sounds very extreme, hernias can happen until the surgical area completely heals.

Tony

It was at the 5 week point that my staph infection showed up...These surgeries are NOT without serious risk..The surgeons tend to downplay these risks when they make their sales pitch. That's just the nature of the business....But if you look at the consent form you signed, they are all spelled out...

STW, a cat scan with an intestinal contrast agent (you drink it) should have spotted this right away....

Post Edited (Fairwind) : 10/24/2010 10:08:11 PM (GMT-6)