A 22-year-old youth, who lost blood supply to his right hand following damage to blood vessels after an accident, was operated on by doctors at Osmania General Hospital (OGH) free of cost.
Abrar Hussain, a resident of Yakutpura, sustained injury in his right arm on October 20 night. Glass pane from the window had transected major blood vessel, two major nerves, and muscles from elbow to hand. As a result, blood supply to the right arm was stopped. After making rounds of multiple hospitals for 10 hours, he finally reached OGH. He was at risk of losing his right hand, but then the doctors gave it a new lease of life.
Head of OGH Plastic Surgery department P. Lakshmi said carpenters and people working in glass cutting workshops often lose blood vessels in accidents or otherwise opt for the government hospital for surgery. In case of Mr Hussain, the surgery, which was performed free of cost, would have cost nearly ₹4 lakh in corporate hospitals.
Blood supply cut off
“When the patient was examined, the plastic surgeon on duty found no blood supply to the right upper limb. If the blood supply was not restored, there was risk of developing gangrene and in such situations, the limb has to be amputated. The patient was immediately taken for surgery,” Dr Lakshmi said. The patient had lost six centimetres of blood vessel.
The operation was performed by the plastic surgery department in collaboration with Department of CT Surgery headed by Srinivas Reddy and the anaesthesia team for eight hours. A vein from Mr Hussain’s right leg was harvested and the doctors bridged the 6-cm gap in the right upper limb.
“Now the blood supply is restored. However, it will take four to five months for the patient to gain function in right upper limb as the glass cut through nerves and muscle. The patient was discharged on Tuesday,” Dr Lakshmi said.