Docs save man after bullet pierces through his skull

A 50-year-old man, who was battling for life after a bullet pierced through his skull, survived after undergoing a complex brain surgery at a city hospital here.
Kanpur based Hakim Singh, a katha-vachak (a narrator of scriptures) by profession, was injured during air-firing during a Shri Madbhagwat katha-vachan in Jhansi on January 10 and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Since the hospital lacked facilities to treat such a serious condition, he was taken to a bigger centre in Gwalior.
"Doctors at the hospital in Gwalior told us that father needs to be taken to a good neuro surgical centre. Thus we came to AIIMS Delhi but due absence of beds, they did nod admit my father there and suggested us to take him to Apollo hospital," said the patient's son Abhay Pratap.

Almost 27 hours after the incident, Singh was admitted to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital.
"He was brought in a critical state. The bullet had entered the head through one side and exited through the other side.
"The CT scan of head revealed extensive brain injury with depressed fracture in frontal region as the bone was broken at multiple places. The damage to the brain was severe as the right frontal lobe had multiple pieces of bone lying inside it along with numerous cerebral contusions," said Dr Pranav Kumar, Senior Consultant of department of Neurology at the hospital.

In a complex surgery that lasted five hours, doctors removed the bone pieces lying inside the brain and treated the cerebral contusions. Repair of brain living membrane was carried out to to deal with dural tear.

"The patient had a long (about 13 mm) linear tear in the superior sagittal sinus which is the principal drainage channel of brain which caused heavy bleeding.
The tear was repaired through surgery and four units of blood transfusion were given to the patient during and after the surgery to make up for the intense blood loss. A tracheostomy was also carried out to allow direct access to the breathing tube," explained Dr Kumar.
The patient was kept under intensive care and on anticonvulsant and other supportive medications. After 3 weeks of therapy and treatment, the patient was discharged from the hospital.

"His speech is close to normal with normal cognitive abilities and movement," said Kumar.