Timely surgery saves SHS graduate’s arm from amputation
A team of orthopaedic and plastic surgeons at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) worked around the clock last Sunday to save the left arm of a 22-year-old senior high school (SHS) graduate from being amputated.
It took the 10 doctors and two nurses eight hours to operate on and save Philip Awagah’s forearm which was barely hanging when he was referred from the St Anthony Hospital at Dzodze in the Volta Region.
Awagah’s arm was hacked with a machete by an unidentified man.
The Korle Bu doctors told the Daily Graphic that the victim was saved from amputation because he arrived just in time last Saturday.
Awagah claimed he was attacked by a man, who is still on the run, after a fight in which he (Awagah) was not even involved.
“He arrived here 18 hours after the incident happened. It was just a piece of the arm that was left,” Dr Kwame Darko, a senior specialist at the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre of Korle Bu, said of the extent of the injury.
Indeed, gory pictures of the arm the Daily Graphic saw prior to the surgery showed that it could easily be severed with a stroke of a knife.
Awagah arrived at the Accident Centre at 9 p.m. on Saturday and was assessed by a casualty officer who realised that the arm could be saved because one of the vital blood vessels was still attached to the small piece of flesh.
“If that vessel was not attached, although the operation would have been technically the same, the arm would not have been saved. The arm would have been deprived of blood for 18 hours. That would have been catastrophic,” Dr Darko said.
The surgery
Since the arm was in a state in which it could be saved, he was rushed to the theatre last Sunday where the operation started at 4 p.m. and ended at midnight.
A member of the team of surgeons, Dr Reuben Ngissa, who walked this reporter through the surgery, said during “the period, two broken bones in the forearm were fixed with metal plates and screws. Additionally, all the tendons, nerves and major blood vessels were repaired”.
Successful surgery
Dr Ngissa, a chief resident, who described the surgery as successful, said the arm was alive.
“Currently, we are awaiting the wound to heal for him to start physiotherapy. The functional result will depend on physiotherapy.
“But for now, we can objectively say the arm has been saved and doesn’t need to be chopped off,” he added.
Dr Darko, who displayed modesty about the team’s achievement, said, “Such surgeries do occur in the hospital. The key thing is to get here on time. The expertise is here.”
He attributed the success of the surgery to the team, which included Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, the Director of the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre; Dr Emmanuel Davies, Dr Daniel Maina, Dr P.K. Nutsuklo, Dr Elliot Boham, Dr Nelson Agboada, Dr Abena Kwafo and Dr Kwekuma Yalley, and two nurses, Ms Belinda Anukpui and Mr Richmond Baah.
Philip’s tragedy
Sharing the tragic incident with the Daily Graphic, Philip said on that fateful, he was returning home from town to prepare for an all night church service.
He said there had been a fight between two people in a village called Live and one of the men, realising that he had been outnumbered, ran from the fight.
“He met us on a path that led to Akatsi and attacked four of us. He cut me only once but I felt it in my bones,” he said.
He was immediately rushed to the Akatsi District Hospital but was referred to the St Anthony Hospital in Dzodze, from where he was transferred to Korle Bu in Accra.
At the time the Daily Graphic met him at the X-ray Department of the hospital, he had what appeared to be a bed sheet wrapped around him.
His arm was cast in a Plaster of Paris (POP), with a tube attached to him for urinary purposes.
Philip, who was grateful to the doctors, said, “I’m not feeling pain. I am happy because the sharp pains I felt immediately the incident happened are no more.
“I thank the doctors for doing their best to save my arm. May God bless them.”
Philip’s elder brother, Mr Joseph Atsu Dogbey, was also grateful to the authorities of the hospital for their sense of urgency.
Writer’s email: seth.bokpe@graphic.com.gh