Fresh lease of life for 58-year-old woman with multiple fractures

RANCHI: A 58-year-old Coal India employee had a miraculous recovery after undergoing three surgeries and being on the ventilator for more than 24 hours.
G Kantamma’s recovery was made possible after cardiologists stabilised her previous heart condition and then a team of doctors of Bhagwan Mahveer Medica Superspeciality Hospital performed three surgeries simultaneously to make sure that she would walk again.
The patient had suffered serious multiple spine fractures and damaged her heels of both legs after she fell from the second floor of a residential building.
Talking to TOI, senior orthopaedic and spine surgeon at Medica Hospital, Dr Rakesh Agarwal, said: “The patient came to us on July 21 with multiple fractures in the spine and both knees. After preliminary investigations we decided to operate on her. However, as she had history of heart diseases and compromised lungs, it was risky to operate on the patient.”
So, first, a team of cardiologists stabilised her heart function so that she could be operated on. “The patient was suffering from cardiomyopathy and had problems in her valves. Once her vitals started stabilising, she was taken for surgery on August 10, after 20 days of her admission,” said Dr Agarwal.
Asked how long the surgery took, Dr Agarwal said: “It was a high-risk surgery due to the patient’s underlying conditions so we decided to perform the surgeries simultaneously and it took us two and a half hour to fix the knee as well as the broken spine.”
The doctors also performed percutaneous spine and heel fixation surgeries simultaneously on August 10. After the surgery, the patient was kept on ventilation support as doctors wanted to eliminate any kind of complications which might arise due to her compromised lungs.
The patient was discharged on Monday evening after she recovered.
Dr Agarwal said the patient has shown tremendous recovery and she has been relieved of pain. Though now in a wheelchair, she will start walking in another three weeks.
Meanwhile, Kantamma’s son, G Rama Rao, said it is like a second birth for his mother. “The moment my mother was taken off the ventilator, I told her that she has got a new life because of the doctors.”