Doctors of Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre doctors here have saved the life and fully restored the facial appearance and motor functions of a youth through multiple emergency surgeries lasting over eight hours.
After spending five days in intensive care unit following the surgeries, the youth left the hospital fully healed and without a single scar on his face, doctors said.
The boy, a B.Com II year student from Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district, had sustained grievous injuries when a person known to him assaulted him with a sharp weapon. He was rushed to the hospital recently with severe facial disfigurement due to multiple deep cut injuries on the face and neck with exposed muscles, bone and trachea.
His condition was critical due to profuse blood loss and airway obstruction. However, multiple emergency surgeries that lasted over eight hours, performed with close coordination of experts from multiple disciplines, saved his life and restored his appearance and facial functions. The team comprised experts from the departments of: plastic surgery, dental surgery, neurosurgery, ENT, vascular surgery, general surgery, orthopaedics, and anaesthesia.
Senior Consultant Nageswaran from the Department of ENT said that as soon as the patient was brought to the hospital, he was put on mechanical ventilation. Primary suturing was done on the face and neck to stop bleeding.
The plastic surgeon did trauma tattooing to restore facial appearance.
Senior Consultant Jibreel Oysul of Department of Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery said that fractures of the maxillary and mandibular bones were treated using advanced techniques involving open reduction (OR) and internal fixation (IF), using titanium plates and micro screws.
Senior Consultant Binita Jena of the Department of Plastic Surgery said that after the reconstruction of fractured facial bones, the functions of the duct of the parotid gland, a major salivary gland located near the ear, and the facial nerve, which is responsible for controlling the muscles of facial expression, were revived.
The overall objective of these surgical interventions, performed under general anaesthesia, was tissue management and reconstruction of facial structures as much as possible.
As the patient’s condition started to improve gradually, he was discharged within a week, and is now leading a normal life, doctors said.
Commenting on the interventions and the outcomes, B. Kannan, Medical Administrator, said, “Injuries involving the jaw (maxilla) and face (facial region) - known collectively as maxillofacial injuries, remain a serious clinical problem because of the involvement of complex anatomic structures.”
As the face constitutes the first point of contact in interactions between people, it frequently becomes the preferred target for maxillofacial injuries in assault cases. Such injuries are also caused due to road accidents, violent incidents, sports injuries, and occupational hazards.
The expert team, with their track record of reducing the morbidity associated with these injuries by utilising state-of-the-art advancements in trauma management and the science of reconstructive surgery, have a high success rate, he said.
