CHENNAI: The doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) saved the leg of a 49-year-old woman from amputation after she sustained serious leg injuries in a road accident recently.
The woman had met with a road accident on March 12 and was admitted to RGGGH the same day. The doctors in the emergency team examined the patient and found that the skin on the right leg had peeled off, the muscles were torn and the wound was infected.
A long part of the bone was exposed and she suffered bimalleolar fracture (severe, unstable ankle injury). The haemoglobin level of the patient also dropped to 8g/dL, according to the press release.
The patient was taken for emergency surgery and the ankle bones were stabilised with K-wire fixation. Since the tendons and muscles that functioned in the joint were dead and lifeless, serial debridement was performed.
This allowed to keep the foot intact, but a long bone was visible, posing a significant challenge for reconstruction. Since the commonly used graft reconstruction method was not possible, the risk of amputation was high, the release added.
During treatment, the patient also developed high blood sugar, so proper diabetes management was provided. Doctors used negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for wound healing. A modern method of wound closure using synthetic dermal matrix was performed on the patient on April 1.