Docs at govt hospital remove stick from patient’s brain

Bosco.Dominique@timesgroup.com

Villupuram:23.10.2020

A team of surgeons led by neurosurgeon P Pallavan from the Government Villupuram medical college hospital (GVMCH) successfully removed a wooden stick, which had pierced through the left temple of a 42-yearold man and entered his skull when he had an accidental fall from his bike.

S Kumar, a farmer from Mazhavanthangal village, Gingee taluk in Villupuram district fell from his bike while returning from the field on October 7. He was admitted to GVMCH at 10am on the same day. GVMCH dean R Kundavi Devi convened a meeting with the surgeons and specialists to discuss how to remove the wooden foreign body, 7cm in length and 4cm in girth, from the patient’s head.

The experts decided to perform the surgery in two stages.

The first stage involved removing the part of the wooden body (extracranial part) protruding outside the head. The second stage involves cutting the skull in round shapes and removing the remaining wood inside the head (intracranial part).

A team of surgeons led by Pallavan performed the first stage of the surgery and then waited for three days for the patient to stabilise before performing the second stage of the surgery through ‘ring craniotomy’ procedure. The second stage of the surgery lasted for five hours from 6pm to11pm on October 10.

“The patient is recovering well post-surgery. It is a complicated surgery, which needs multi-disciplinary approach. The surgery may cost between Rs10 lakh and Rs15 lakh in a private hospital. GVMCH performed the surgery free of cost under Tamil Nadu chief minister’s comprehensive health insurance scheme,” said Pallavan.

Surgeons removed the wooden stick 7cm in length and 4cm in girth, from the patient’s head in two stages. The second stage of the surgery lasted five hours