Leg replantation surgery at Sparsh hospital amidst of lockdown was successfully managed. Sparsh hospital, which has a strong reputation for conducting path-breaking surgeries for over a decade, conducted complex reconstructive surgery of three year old child’s leg amidst of lockdown.
A three-year-old kid from Anantpur was rushed to SPARSH Hospital, Bangalore who sustained a near total amputation of her leg just below her knee joint. A team of doctors headed by Dr.Anand K, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Sparsh Hospital, successfully performed the reconstructive surgery of the leg. The kid is now shifted out of Paediatric ICU; the family of three year old is now relieved and happy.
Vinutha (Name changed), female baby aged about 3 years, the younger of the two kids to the groundnut farmer Mr. Kumar (Name changed), was happily sitting on a swing at her home in the remote village Naayanavenapalli, Singamanamala Mandalam, Anantapur District of Andhrapradesh. Little did anyone realise what was about to happen. Father was mowing the grass with a sharp machete infront of the swing. As the child was playing in the swing, she slipped and accidentally came under the contact of the machete, which her father was using for mowing the grass. She injured both her legs.
The baby sustained a near total amputation of her left leg just below her knee joint. The left leg hanging over a 2 cm piece of skin. Distraught father took the baby to her brother’s house, from where they travelled to Anantapur (40 kms) in a car. From there they travelled to the near city in in the neighbouring state, to Bangalore (40 kms +280 kms =320 kms) with the amputated leg. The incident happened at about 5 PM on 01-05-2020 and they reached hospital at about 10 PM on the same night (facing the hurdle of Lockdown).
The specialist team of doctors from plastic and Microvascular surgery and Orthopaedics departments at Sparsh hospital Yeshwanthpur, evaluated the baby’s leg. And within no time, the team of doctors headed by Dr. Anand K, Dr. Sai Krishna Naidu, Dr. Gautham and Dr. Gururaj, went ahead to operate on baby’s leg by deciding to do the replantation of the injured leg, considering the baby’s future though baby was from a Red Zone for Covid 19.
The surgery was performed meticulously over a period of 8 hours, with the support of all the expert OT technicians and anaesthetists. The patient being a baby of three years, it was a challenging task to anastomose the vessels, as they are extremely small and needs microvascular surgical expertise. The baby has been shifted out of Paediatric ICU and the family are relieved and happy.
What is replantation surgery?
Replantation is a microsurgical procedure that involves the reattachment of completely amputated parts back to the body. Here all nerves and vessels are joined under an operating microscope. The dead or dying part is brought back to life by restoring circulation with repair of damaged or broken blood vessels’ and function brought back by regaining nerves.
It is important to know that an amputated part can be replanted. If you reach the right place, at the right time. The amputated part should be wrapped with a moist cloth, sealed in a plastic bag and put in a mixture of ice and water. Part should not be in contact with ice.
