Fortis Hospitals successfully conducted a high-precision surgery that pushed the limits of medical skills and reconstruction technique, by completely restoring a distorted jaw and facial muscles of an elderly African priest, who was shot at point blank range on the lower part of the face.
The challenging surgery was made even more difficult as the patient is a diabetic with high blood pressure and kidney problems and had developed infection because of pieces of bone and metal still stuck inside the jaw.
“But we achieved the near impossible through this path-breaking operation that involved aligning the joints of his mouth and grafting a piece of bone from the hip to reconstruct the lower jaw”, said Dr Sunil Vasudev, Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon, Fortis Hospitals.
According to Fortis, Simon, who is a priest hailed from Congo in Africa and is a father of eight children. He struggled for three weeks with the excruciating pain caused by the injury. Miscreants shot the 70-year-old and the bullet had pierced through his left cheek, shattering his teeth and bones and gravely injuring his facial muscles and nerves. His tongue was cut in half. He was only given first aid and emergency treatment in Africa and the shattered jaw was not set right. His relatives residing in Bengaluru suggested Fortis Hospitals for treatment.
“When he came to us it was almost a month since the incident and his condition was bad. After detailed discussions, the team of doctors drew up a treatment and reconstruction plan. The aim was to make sure that with the surgery, all his functions would be intact. First, the shattered bones and metal pieces were carefully removed from the jaw area and the infection was stopped. His health parameters were brought under control”, explained Dr Vasudev who treated Simon.
“This type of surgery needs a lot of precision. To restore his jaw, first his mangled facial nerves and muscles had to be salvaged minutely and any mistake would result in paralysis of one side of the face,” said Dr Sunil.
After that was successfully done, the reconstruction surgery was performed wherein the two joints of the lower jaw were aligned with the help of metal plates and taking a piece of bone from the hip, grafting was done to restore the patient’s jaw. His tongue, which has been sutured was released and reshaped. It has been about two weeks since the procedure was completed and Simon is on the path to recovery. His wounds are healing well and in a couple of months, he can undergo another surgery to put back his teeth. He is already able to talk and his other facial functions have been restored.
With this procedure, Fortis Hospitals has achieved a landmark in maxillofacial surgical procedures.