Hubballi: Doctors at the SDM Narayana Heart Centre in Dharwad performed a rare and complex surgery recently on a 55-year- old road accident victim to remove a 22.5 cm piece of wood embedded in his chest that neither he nor his physicians were aware of while he was being treated for his injuries.
Baburao Jagapath, an assistant sub-inspector of police at the Kanakagiri police station in Koppal district, was badly hurt when he rammed his overspeeding motorbike into the rear of a tractor carrying wooden logs on January 3. A piece of wood that entered his body at the time through a wound remained lodged between the aorta of his heart and his esophagus causing a lot of blood accumulation in the chest and compressing his lungs. And it was only when he began to complain of breathing trouble that the doctors did a series of investigations using an X-ray, CT scan and ultrasound and saw the object lodged in his body. "We had to take a lot of precautions and do proper investigations to plan the surgery since the sharp wooden piece had to be removed without damaging other parts of the body," explained Dr Shanmukh Hiremath, consultant cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at the hospital.
Giving anaesthesia to the patient proved difficult too as his lung and chest walls were torn. But the wooden piece was finally removed and the damage caused to the lung was repaired. Doctors were also able to prevent risk of injury to his heart and aorta, saving the life of the policeman.
