A 35-year-old labourer Noor Islam fell from the second floor of an under-construction building in Burari on Friday evening, and one of the iron rods kept on the ground pierced his brain.
Neurosurgeons at the government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain Hospital in Delhi removed the iron rod from the brain and saved the man, says a report in Mail Today.
Timely medical intervention made this possible.
“The patient was brought to us at 7 pm in a critical condition with a 3-cm-thick and one-feet-long rod impaling his eye and reaching the brain. We decided to operate upon him around 9 pm,” said Dr P. N. Pandey, head of the neurosurgery department at the Lok Nayak Hospital.
Doctors who conducted the surgery said the labourer told them he was working on the second floor when he looked down at a fellow worker. Islam said he lost his balance and fell.
“So much was the impact of Islam's fall that the rod bent after piercing through the skull wall.
More than half the rod was inside his brain, impaling the eye. The rod entered from the right side of the brain to the left, which is the dominant portion and controls vital functions of the body such as walking, talking and seeing. We removed the rod without any damage to the brain and the eye,” said Dr Pandey.
The doctors admitted they were shocked to see the case. “ Islam was lucky that the rod didn't damage any part of his eye,” said Dr Pandey. Even after such a critical surgery, Islam is fine and began talking within 24 hours of being operated. “ He was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital. But now he's talking and asking for food,” said Dr Pandey.
Before the surgery, the team of doctors were worried about the condition of the brain. Any damage or lapse in the surgery could have caused the patient's death.
They took extra precautions because the brain is the controlling organ of the body.
Had Islam not been operated upon in time, he could have been paralysed or turned blind.
The critical two- hour surgery was conducted by a team of three doctors, including general surgeons and anaesthetists.
Though doctors said Islam is out of danger, they have not ruled out the possibility of an infection because the iron rod was in his brain for several hours.
“ The rod was made of iron and could have carried foreign bacteria harmful for the brain. Islam may suffer from meningitis, aneurysm and fits in the future as the iron came in contact with his brain vessels. We are giving him medicines to prevent any infection, but the possibility is less,” said Dr Pandey.
Islam is under constant observation of the doctors and is said to be stable. “The patient is in the ICU and on the ventilator, but is fine and conscious. He is breathing on his own and responding to commands. Islam's respiratory functions are also normal and we will discharge him in a couple of days,” Dr Pandey added.
