A complex head surgery performed using thigh tissue saved the life of a four-year-old girl
Y, a four-year-old girl from the northern region, was seriously injured in a car accident and was transferred to Rambam for treatment. For many days, she wavered between life and death, being under the close supervision of a pediatric intensive care team. A complex and challenging operation was performed on her head, leading to an improvement in her condition and even to recovery and release for further rehabilitation.
Suffering from a serious and life-threatening head injury, Y. arrived at Rambam by helicopter. Upon her arrival, she underwent neurosurgery, in order to deal with the various injuries she suffered and stabilize her condition. After that, she was transferred to the intensive care unit for further observation.
For days, the care team struggled to get her out of danger and save her life. Among the treatments she received was also a complex and challenging surgery that was a turning point in the little patient's recovery.
She arrived with a crushed skull fracture
"Y came to us with a crushed skull fracture as a result of the accident she was involved in," explains Prof. Assaf Zeltzer, director of the plastic surgery department at Rambam, who was one of the surgeons who treated her. "In the first step, she underwent surgery to reduce intracranial pressure by Prof. Muni Banifla, director of pediatric neurosurgery at Rambam. To do this, he had to remove the crushed bone and a large foreign body that was pressing on the area. After her medical condition allowed it, we entered the operating room a second time, this time to cover the brain that remained visible, and to give the girl the best possible chance to deal with the serious injury."
Tissues and blood vessels from the thigh
In a complex, challenging and delicate operation that lasted for many hours, the doctors performed an operation using a microsurgical method called in professional jargon a "hanger". As part of the surgical procedure, the surgeons removed a layer of tissue and blood vessels from the thigh area of the four-year-old and covered with it the part of the brain that remained exposed after the first operation, about a third of the surface of the skull, while gently connecting the various blood vessels and allowing blood supply to the newly transplanted tissue. The surgery, which was performed by a multidisciplinary team, led by Prof. Seltzer, along with Dr. Mahmoud Zidan and Dr. Hagit Ofir, both senior doctors in the plastic surgery department at the medical center, was done in collaboration with Prof. Banifla and ended successfully.
A particularly big challenge
"Surgeries of this type are not very common," explains Prof. Seltzer, "but here the challenge was really great. In addition to the patient's young age and the fact that her blood vessels are relatively small, the severe injury she suffered left significant damage to the tissues and blood vessels in her head. The performance was very complex And everything was borderline. The operation lasted for many hours, and after that there were a few critical days, but to our great joy the procedure ended successfully in the ward and she started to speak and move her limbs very recently and we are full of hope for her future."
In the coming months, Y. is expected to undergo several additional surgeries to improve her functions and aesthetic correction following the injury she suffered. When they left Rambam, the girl's father asked to deliver: "We got her life back. We thank the doctors and appreciate the dedicated care we received. Thanks to the doctors, our girl is with us."
