Story of Dharamveer – Road Accident Survivor with Complex Lacerated Leg Injury

 

Dharamveer, a road accident survivor was brought by 3-4 unknown persons to Medanta Hospital Emergency following a fatal road traffic accident. The accident seemed to be a life-threatening one for Dharamveer as he acquired a severe foot injury that led to his right foot getting completely crushed in the injury. The initial examination of his wounds and leg was so bad that doctors thought he might even end up in getting his leg amputated.

Dharamveer was completely hopeless about the entire incident and didn’t want to survive. He asked the strangers, who brought him to the hospital, to give him some poison as he wanted to end his life. He knew he couldn’t go back to leading a normal life ever again without a leg. Even if his leg would be saved, he believed he would never be able to walk again and spend his entire life in a wheelchair or with crutches.

 

Landing at Medanta & Initial Work-up

Dharamveer was first taken to Rewari Trauma Centre where the doctors advised him to go to Medanta Medicity Hospital for further treatment to save his leg. When he was brought to Medanta Medicity Hospital, he had a lot of issues at the wound site with multiple foot lacerations. His left leg had multiple fractures on the foot, the skin over his right foot was completely torn, and his foot was all opened up with tissues and blood vessels visible from the outside.

His foot was so badly crushed that it was all lying down from the original place. There was a massive ankle dislocation and it was twisted down too. The initial examination of his foot was so bad that doctors had a bleak hope of saving his leg and were even contemplating the amputation at one point.

 

Dr. Hardeep Singh - Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgeon

The bigger challenge was to hold everything together and get started with the treatment as Dharamveer required urgent medical and surgical attention. The treatment started with getting preliminary investigations done that included multiple X-rays. The X-ray results showed multiple fractures on the metatarsals. Since his ankle was all played out, doctors geared up to get his foot in alignment by putting up a pin from the heel going up to the tibia. His bones were fixed with multiple pins before starting any exhaustive surgical treatment.

Dr. Hardeep Singh, Plastic, Aesthetic & Reconstructive Surgeon at Medanta Medicity Hospital attended to Dharamveer’s case with utmost dedication and readiness. After attending to him initially and giving the necessary wound stabilization treatment, he waited for a couple of days. As soon as Dharamveer’s wound started getting stabilized and looking better, Dr. Hardeep Singh planned a big surgery on him called Micro Vascular Surgery.

 

Micro Vascular Surgery & Skin Grafting

In Micro Vascular Surgery, his flesh and the corresponding blood vessels were taken from his back and were then used to cover his foot. The Micro Vascular Surgery was then followed by Micro Vascular Anastomosis conducted with the help of a microscope. This procedure was done to help his blood vessels join with each other. The vessels were then covered with a skin graft taken from his left thigh. Both these were critical and complex surgeries that took around 6-7 hours to perform and

 

Dharamveer on Roadmap to Recovery After 1 Year

Though Dharamveer received the best treatment and in-time medical attention to save his leg from getting amputated, he had this desire of going a step further. On one of his follow-up visits with Dr. Hardeep Singh, he expressed his innate desire of walking normally. He was ready to receive further treatment and surgeries that could help him walk as he used to before the fateful accident.

He was bent on asking for improvement in the results that he attained in the first surgery. He wanted his foot to work better in terms of both function and appearance. Dr. Hardeep Singh was glad that his patient came back to him asking for an improvement from his first surgery.

He was happy to see that Dharamveer didn’t limit his satisfaction with only healing the wound but also wanted a complete recovery in terms of function and appearance of the foot. Dr. Hardeep Singh completely believes that patients shouldn’t only contain their satisfaction till the healing but also ask their treating doctor about further recovery. They should aim at a complete recovery from the functional and aesthetical point of view.

360-Degree Recovery Plan for Dharamveer

After Dharamveer came to Dr. Hardeep Singh with a desire for complete recovery both aesthetically and functionally, he was suggested to undergo Tissue Expansion surgery for best results. In this surgery, a balloon is inserted in the thigh to increase the extra amount of skin in the thigh. Thereafter, the excess thigh skin was transferred to his foot in the same manner as done before. The Micro Surgical Procedure performed on Dharamveer left him with good results, a normal-looking foot that has gained normal function as well.

 

Dharamveer- After Tissue Expansion Surgery & Complete Recovery

Dharamveer is overjoyed with the results of Tissue Expansion Surgery and complete recovery. He can now walk normally as before and can even manage to run for a kilometre. Dr. Hardeep Singh is also glad to see his patient, who once came on a stretcher with no hope left to ever gain a normal chance at life, now walking on his own feet without any support and leading a normal life.

There’s nothing more gratifying for a doctor to see his patient, once immobilized, and now walking himself and opening the doors to his consultation chamber, leading a normal life as before.