NAGPUR: When a 21-year-old construction worker fell from a considerable height on August 19 and was impaled on two six-foot-long iron rods of 16mm thickness each, not many thought he would live to see another day. In a medical miracle scripted over the next few weeks, the man not just survived but walked out of hospital on September 9 without any permanent injury.
The worker had fallen quite a distance at a private construction site. One rod pierced through his chest, narrowly missing the heart and other vital organs, while the other penetrated his abdomen.
The case appeared dire when the patient arrived at Nagpur’s SevenStar Hospital’s emergency wing. “His chances of survival were pretty slim but our doctors decided not to leave any stone unturned. He needed to be taken to the operating theatre quickly. However, the size of the rods posed a challenge, as we could not use the regular elevator to transport the patient,” said Dr Prashant Rahate, the hospital director.
The hospital’s facility staff was summoned and the rods were carefully cut to facilitate the patient’s transfer to the OT.
Impaled man’s journey to recovery was nothing short of miraculous: Doc
Inside the OT, surgeons faced another obstacle as the standard equipment could not be placed around the patient to start the surgery. The rods had to be cut further to allow the surgical procedure to start,” said Dr Rahate.
It was discovered that the chest rod had passed through the thorax, piercing the diaphragm and lung, before narrowly avoiding the liver. Similarly, the abdominal rod, entering from the left side, had navigated around vital organs, but had severely injured the hip bone. Removing it required the skills of an orthopaedic surgeon and was a painstaking process.
The shattered hip bone, bleeding profusely, was successfully managed by the surgical team. Postoperative assessments, including CT abdominal angiography and 3D CT of the bony pelvis, confirmed the surgical success.
“The patient’s journey to recovery was nothing short of miraculous. After spending two days on a ventilator, he steadily improved in the ICU. There were no postoperative complications, and all surgical wounds healed remarkably well,” said a surgeon, Dr Zoeb Haider.
The team of doctors who worked on this case included Dr Ravi Dashputra, Dr Yogesh Bang, Dr Sachin Makde, Dr Harshraj Bhendale and Dr Amey Chakkarwar.
The worker had fallen quite a distance at a private construction site. One rod pierced through his chest, narrowly missing the heart and other vital organs, while the other penetrated his abdomen.
The case appeared dire when the patient arrived at Nagpur’s SevenStar Hospital’s emergency wing. “His chances of survival were pretty slim but our doctors decided not to leave any stone unturned. He needed to be taken to the operating theatre quickly. However, the size of the rods posed a challenge, as we could not use the regular elevator to transport the patient,” said Dr Prashant Rahate, the hospital director.
The hospital’s facility staff was summoned and the rods were carefully cut to facilitate the patient’s transfer to the OT.
Impaled man’s journey to recovery was nothing short of miraculous: Doc
Inside the OT, surgeons faced another obstacle as the standard equipment could not be placed around the patient to start the surgery. The rods had to be cut further to allow the surgical procedure to start,” said Dr Rahate.
It was discovered that the chest rod had passed through the thorax, piercing the diaphragm and lung, before narrowly avoiding the liver. Similarly, the abdominal rod, entering from the left side, had navigated around vital organs, but had severely injured the hip bone. Removing it required the skills of an orthopaedic surgeon and was a painstaking process.
The shattered hip bone, bleeding profusely, was successfully managed by the surgical team. Postoperative assessments, including CT abdominal angiography and 3D CT of the bony pelvis, confirmed the surgical success.
“The patient’s journey to recovery was nothing short of miraculous. After spending two days on a ventilator, he steadily improved in the ICU. There were no postoperative complications, and all surgical wounds healed remarkably well,” said a surgeon, Dr Zoeb Haider.
The team of doctors who worked on this case included Dr Ravi Dashputra, Dr Yogesh Bang, Dr Sachin Makde, Dr Harshraj Bhendale and Dr Amey Chakkarwar.