KOCHI: Doctors at a city hospital have successfully performed plastic surgery on a six-year-old boy whose face was severely damaged in a road accident.
The face of Abhay Kumar was reconstructed at Lisie Hospital in a series of surgeries. Abhay suffered serious injures to his face, after the autorickshaw in which he and his family members were travelling met with an accident.
A large chunk of flesh was ripped off his face, and he lost his teeth, gum, lips, nose and forehead.
The severed body parts were spotted only after Abhay was rushed to hospital, soon after the accident, and were brought to the hospital by the police.
The damaged portion of the face was reconstructed in a six-hour-long surgery, performed by a medical team led by plastic surgeon R Jayakumar. The team included Dr Nishad and Dr Shaina. Later, Abhay Kumar underwent follow-up surgeries to regain the shape of his face.
“Very few face reconstruction surgeries - partially and total - have been performed in the world. The nature of facial expressions makes the entire procedure very complex,” said doctors.
In such cases, blood circulation has to be restored quickly by reconnecting the nerves, and the severed flesh has to be stitched together using microscope and special apparatus.