Abu Dhabi – Gaza – In life, within range of bullets, everything is expected for the people of Gaza, but the fourteen-year-old girl, Salma, did not imagine that she would be the target this time of a 3 cm long bullet that penetrated her chest and settled in a very dangerous area between her aorta and her column. Vertebral.
Her mother, who accompanied her on the Emirati plane, which carried wounded and cancer patients who were able to leave the Gaza Strip to the Egyptian city of Al-Arish and were transferred for treatment in Abu Dhabi, says that her daughter’s survival is a miracle, and that the success of the doctors in the ‘Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City’ in the UAE. In extracting the fatal bullet with an unprecedented surgical procedure that actually saved her daughter’s life; If the bullet had damaged the aorta, internal bleeding would have occurred, and if it had hit the spine, partial or total paralysis would have occurred.
The team that performed the operation at the Medical City confirmed that this was
a unique case, as Salma was hit by a 3-cm-long bullet that penetrated her rib cage and settled in an area that is extremely sensitive to any surgical intervention, as it is located between the aorta and the spine.
The medical team confirmed that the fact that the spine was mobile in that area posed a risk of perforation of the aorta and severe bleeding if the bullet was left in place, and that open surgery in that case would have required a large incision to expose the area and reach the bullet.
Ready for all possibilities
Consultant and Head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, Dr. Iftikhar Jan, who led the operation, explained that the laparoscopic procedure was not possible due to the presence of many vital organs near the location of the bullet, saying: ‘We performed a minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery in a unique style.’ “It is one of its kind, as we operated laparoscopically behind the abdominal cavity.” ‘In preparation for surgery, with the support of a mult
idisciplinary team of interventional radiologists, vascular surgeons and anesthesia team, we reviewed the case and carefully planned the use of a non-surgical intra-aortic balloon in the event of suspected major bleeding due to the dangerous location of the bullet,’ added Jan.
The medical team completed the operation with the least possible surgical intervention. The surgery was performed using only three 5 mm ports. The operation to remove the bullet was successful while working very carefully near the aorta and other major blood vessels, without injuring any other organ.
The duration of the surgery took about three hours to complete the precise endoscopic surgical intervention and extract the bullet.
Today, Salma returned with her mother to their current place of residence in the Emirates Humanitarian City, and is now in the stage of convalescence and full recovery.
Salma says: ‘I kept this bullet that was in my chest, after the doctors took it out and replaced it with hope.’
It is noteworthy that this
case is unique; Due to its accuracy and complexity, laparoscopic surgery was performed behind the peritoneum, which lines the abdominal cavity, and a similar operation has never been recorded in the medical literature recorded therein.
Source: Maan News Agency