CHENNAI: A team of doctors at Fortis Malar Hospital performed a challenging multiple fragment surgery on the elbow of a 70-year-old woman, who also tested positive for Covid-19 with multiple co-morbidities. According to a statement from the hospital, the patient also had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes, and hypertension.
“The patient suffered a fractured elbow after a fall and was immediately rushed to the hospital,” it said.
The surgical team was led by Nandkumar Sundaram, chief of trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, Fortis Malar. Nandkumar said,
“Mrs Saraswathy was rushed to the hospital’s ICU with high fever and extreme breathlessness and put on high-pressure support in order to sustain normal breathing.” He said that it took three weeks of intensive care to get her fit in order to undergo the complicated multiple fragment surgery.
“The most common complication one sees with this kind of a shattered elbow is joint stiffness and our aim is to attain full mobility and healing of the fracture without any neurovascular complications,” he added. Taking the Covid situation into consideration, the patient was carefully placed in a facedown position and the ulna bone was divided and reflected back with the muscle to expose the elbow joint from the back without damaging the nerves and vessels.