A man in his 40s has died after being transferred to a major hospital following an emergency during a sedated gastric endoscopy.
The police are currently investigating the medical staff who performed the procedure on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
On December 31 of last year, 46-year-old Ahn underwent a health checkup at an internal medicine clinic in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
Although he was moderately obese, standing 176.9 cm tall and weighing 97.8 kg, he reportedly had no underlying conditions such as hypertension or diabetes.
The medical staff administered 80 mg of propofol, a sedative, and began the endoscopy. However, they reportedly changed his position twice due to difficulties in securing his airway. When Ahn began to wake up from sedation, the staff administered an additional 2 mg of midazolam.
Prior to the endoscopy, Ahn had been assessed as Mallampati Class 4, indicating that airway management was expected to be difficult.
After the administration of midazolam, Ahn's breathing suddenly became unstable. As his oxygen saturation levels dropped below the normal range, he began to show signs of cyanosis on his face.
The medical staff attempted to secure his airway, but when no signs of recovery were observed, they used a manual resuscitator. They also performed CPR and administered flumazenil, an antagonist, to counteract the effects of the midazolam.
They succeeded in intubating him on their second attempt, but by that time, about 10 minutes had passed since his oxygen saturation levels had fallen outside the normal range.
When 119 emergency responders arrived at approximately 12:10 p.m., Ahn was in cardiac arrest. Although his heartbeat was restored after CPR at a nearby hospital's emergency room, he had suffered severe brain damage and eventually passed away in January of this year due to hypoxic brain injury.
The bereaved family argued, "When the patient started to wake up from anesthesia, the staff should have taken necessary measures, such as immediately stopping the examination or advising a transfer to a general hospital."
On the other hand, the clinic stated, "It is not mandatory to stop an examination immediately just because a patient moves during a sedated endoscopy," adding, "It is standard medical practice to administer additional sedatives in minimal amounts while monitoring the patient's condition."
The clinic further explained, "Instead of increasing the dose of propofol, we administered 2 mg of midazolam, which has an antagonist, and as soon as oxygen saturation dropped, we stopped the procedure and performed emergency measures, including securing the airway and providing oxygen."
The police, who received a complaint from the family early this year, conducted a search and seizure at the clinic on June 11.
Following the incident, the clinic sent text messages to Ahn's mobile phone on January 1, asking for a review or promoting health checkup packages. The clinic explained that these were automated messages sent based on personal information registered in the hospital system, and that they were stopped after the family's protest.
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
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