The Coimbatore Medical College Hospital has, for the first time, performed a new procedure for facial correction to treat a rare syndrome that causes disfigurement on one side of the face.
In place of the earlier methods which involved removing the skin from the thigh, a procedure that leaves a permanent scar and had a high failure rate, the doctors of CMCH Plastic Surgery Department performed ‘nano fat grafting’ on a 19-year-old girl from Pollachi who was suffering from Parry–Romberg syndrome.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, hospital Dean S. Revwathy said that in this procedure, only the excess fat was harvested from the stomach and thigh to correct the girl’s facial disfigurement.
B. Asokan, Head, Department of Plastic Surgery, who led the team of doctors and anaesthetists that performed the surgery, said that this procedure was relatively quicker and had a higher rate of success over the earlier method. The syndrome was rare and probability of its occurrence was one per one lakh population. It was found among girls in the age group of 5 to 12 years. N. Sekar, Assistant Professor, said that what exactly caused Parry–Romberg syndrome was yet to be identified.
Dr. Revwathy said: “The success of this surgery shows that Government hospitals are capable of performing cosmetic surgery, which are widely done only in private sector till now. Such surgeries are expensive and not many can afford it. Now, such patients can come to the GHs where it is done completely free of cost.”
