Broken spine rejoined in 'miracle' surgery

New Delhi, July 4 : Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here have rejoined a 10-year-old boy's broken spinal cord, hospital authorities said Saturday, terming it as a 'first-of-its-kind case'.

The boy, Premchand from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, fell while playing in a field and the moving blades of a tractor's harrow went over his back cutting his vertebral column into two.

He was brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre Sep 4 and immediately operated upon after five hospitals said they could not treat him. Nine months later, he is back on his feet and walking without help.

At AIIMS a team of doctors performed the rare surgery lasting over eight hours.

D.B. Choudhary, senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at AIIMS, said: 'The child was in a state of shock due to blood loss and had two deep wounds on the back with active leak of cerebrospinal fluid and rib fracture.

'His entire spine was fragmented in two parts. Initially he was given blood and treated with other medicines to prevent meningitis,' he added.

Claiming it a medical feat, AIIMS Trauma Centre chief M.C. Mishra said: 'I have done extensive research and can conclude that it is a first-of-its-kind case in medical history. Such a case with sharp penetrating injury to the spine in a child causing complete breakage of the lumbar spine in two parts presenting with complete loss of power and sensations is extremely unusual and has not been reported in literature either.'

The child started responding and felt sensations only a month after his surgery and now after nine months he is able to walk with minimal assistance.

He is currently undergoing rehabilitation physiotherapy. 'We are expecting him to recover soon,' Deepak Gupta, one of the doctors who operated upon the boy, told reporters. 'There is no threat of infection.'

Urging small hospitals to refer such critical cases directly to the AIIMS, Choudhary said the Trauma Centre is capable of handling difficult cases. Referring to Premchand's treatment, he said: 'It is another miracle carried out at AIIMS.'