Simon, a 70-year-old priest hailing from Congo in Africa, who had been accidentally shot at a point-blank range on the lower part of the face in his country, could not chew or eat for the last two months.
Thanks to a high-precision reconstruction surgery performed by doctors at the city-based Fortis Hospitals, he is recovering and is able to talk.
Sunil Vasudev, consultant maxillofacial surgeon at the hospital, who treated Mr. Simon said the bullet had pierced through the priest’s left cheek, shattering his teeth and bones. His facial muscles and nerves had been injured and his tongue was cut by half.
He was given only first aid and emergency treatment in his country. The priest’s relatives living in Bangalore brought him to the city for treatment last month. Doctors at the hospital, led by Dr. Vasudev, conducted a surgery to align the joints of his mouth and grafted a piece of bone from the hip to reconstruct the lower jaw.
As nothing was done to repair the broken bones and injured muscles, the upper and lower jaws had lost symmetry and the joints of his lower jaw were out of alignment. His tongue had been sutured to the floor of his mouth so he could not talk.
The doctors first removed the shattered bones and metal pieces from the jaw area to stop further infection. “To restore his jaw, first his mangled facial nerves and muscles had to be salvaged minutely and any mistake would have resulted in paralysis of one side of the face,” said Dr. Vasudev.
This was followed by the reconstruction surgery. His tongue, which had been sutured, was released and reshaped.
His wounds were healing, and in a couple of months, he could undergo another surgery to put back his teeth, the doctor said.
