A FORMER pub boss died after a routine operation.

Iain Smith, 42, underwent an ascitic drain procedure at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton on April 25 to remove fluid from his abdomen – something he had to have done every few weeks.

The surgery was carried out by junior doctor Jonathan Smith.

It was the first time he had performed the procedure – he had seen it done four times before, an inquest heard yesterday.

Mr Smith, of Cannon Place, Brighton, was discharged from hospital after the operation but readmitted the following day with low blood pressure and other problems.

He was put into intensive care as he was bleeding, though doctors could not find the root of the bleed, Brighton Coroner’s Court heard.

The decision was eventually made not to attempt resuscitation and he died in the early hours of April 27.

Mr Smith was unemployed, but had managed pubs around Sussex, including the Burlington (now the Thomas Kemp) in St George’s Road, Brighton, in the past.

Mr Smith began drinking alcohol heavily after the deaths of his mother in 1996 and grandmother in 1997. This eventually caused liver cirrhosis.

This was believed to be the cause of his ascites (the fluid build-up).

He had undergone several detoxes for his alcoholism but consistently went back to the bottle, the inquest heard.

He contracted HIV in 2003 but this was being controlled by medication, and he also suffered with asthma.

A post-mortem revealed the bleeding had come from the point of the drainage.

Nothing had gone wrong in any of Mr Smith’s previous operations.

He was unsuitable for a liver transplant because of his condition.

The court heard he had been told in December that he had six months to live.

Coroner Catharine Palmer said hospital staff did all they could for him in the circumstances.

Mrs Palmer said Mr Smith’s cause of death was multi-organ failure, haemorrhagic shock and a diffuse intra-abdominal haemorrhage, adding his HIV and asthma were contributing factors.

Recording a short narrative conclusion, the coroner said Mr Smith died from bleeding in his abdomen cavity and a rare but recognised complication of draining ascitic fluid. She said he developed pneumonia which led to multi-organ failure.

After the inquest, Mr Smith’s father Frank, 76, said: “It has been a traumatic experience and we are still suffering from the shock.

“I don’t think you can do anything for alcoholics.

“They lie, they cheat – they do anything to get their booze.

“None of the services Iain used could help him. We knew the alcohol affected him, but we didn’t realise how much.

“He had a lot of support.”