It’s a miracle. There have been a lot of improvement in my leg for the past six months,” said Saji Mon, who is undergoing treatment by orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Shibu John Varkey, in Changanassery, central Kerala.
The 43-year-old patient belongs to a hamlet in the Kuttanad region. When he was five, he fell from a country boat, and hit the right side of his body. Like most children of his age, Saji kept the incident hidden for a day. But when his right leg began to swell, the family saw it and took him to a local masseur. However, the masseur didn’t recognise the fracture on the leg and his unscientific massage method complicated matters. A nearby hospital was the next stop. Following treatment, doctors there suggested amputation since nothing was progressing in a favourable manner.
But Saji’s grandmother was adamant and didn’t want the little boy’s leg amputated. So, she applied traditional medicines and saved him. Though he escaped from the surgical knife, there was a considerable difference in the length of his two legs. But that did not stop him from working, getting married and having a family.
Saji came to Dr Shibu when he developed difficulties in supporting his well-built body. After 200 days of treatment, there was a 12-cm growth on the leg.
Dr Shibu is not a magician. He only used a 66-year-old technique called the Ilizarov method which was developed by Russia’s Dr Gavril Abramovich Ilizarov. And he is curing hundreds of other cases like Saji’s with the method.
“This technique works on creating an optimum bio-mechanical environment for fracture-healing. Ilizarov adopted this technique from the nature. Fractured bones of animals and birds get healed naturally, but with drawbacks. This method uses natural healing in a systematic manner with Ilizarov external fixators to correct angular deformity, as well as length differences and to treat the non-union of bones,” said Dr Shibu, who is the only one in India to get a PhD from the Ilizarov Centre, at Kurgan, in Siberia. Dr Shibu went to Russia in 1997 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The device is a specialised form of external fixator, a circular fixator, in modular form. Stainless steel rings are fixed to the bone via stainless steel gauge wires which are called pins. This helps to lengthen the tissue. According to the doctor, it grows by one millimetre every day. This method is also used for cosmetic purposes, for example if a person feels he is short, his height can be increased, to a maximum of five cm. Though it is a technique making a great difference in the lives of many suffering from bad fractures by saving them from amputations, apart from congenital deformities, there are not much takers.
“It needs much more time to fix the device along with a regular follow-up with great hygiene. This reduces the number of patients I can attend to on a regular basis,” said Dr Shibu, who treats around 50 patients daily, six days a week at the St. Thomas Hospital, Chethipuzha.