Road traffic accidents are one of the major reasons for death in any society. Some accident proves to be fatal while many suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury. The social consequences of road traffic accidents include loss of productivity of the victims, the cost of pain and suffering and loss of quality of life of the victim and their family etc. However if timely treatment is made accessible to the victim, many lives can be saved and the chance of disabilities reduces. Recently a 38 years old patient from Jharkhand was brought to the emergency department of JP Hospital, Rourkela with his left foot almost on verge of falling, left attached with only a small fringe of skin.
This patient was hit by a speeding truck the same day, around 7 hours before. This accident left the patient’s foot in almost near total amputation condition. All the blood vessels of the foot were detached and no circulation of blood was there. The foot had become cold. This patient was admitted under Dr. Kuldeep Sharma (Consultant Plastic Surgeon), who later described this case as one of his most critical ones.
After the initial assessment, the patient was taken for emergency surgery. The fractured bones were fixed by Dr. S K Mahapatra (Senior Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon) & critical revascularization was done by Dr.Kuldeep Sharma, to fix the dangling foot and restore it to its position. Revascularization is a surgical procedure in which blood circulation is restored by joining the cut ends of arteries & veins.
The patient had lost all hope of being able to lead a normal life again. But thanks to the effort of the JP doctor, the patient is on the path to recovery and is expected to be discharged soon. Dr. Kuldeep Sharma says “ if after an accident a person arrives within 6 hours, there is a high chance of getting treated for any damaged parts. However in this case the patient was lucky and is responding very well to our treatment”
