A national level gymnast from Haryana, who underwent a set of surgeries at a city hospital for critical neck injury that caused paralysis, recovered at a record time to the surprise of even the doctors treating him.
Eighteen-year-old Sachin had suffered an unfortunate fall during a practice session and broke his neck bone. His coach feared the worst as he rushed him to a nearby hospital. The doctors who examined him confirmed that he had sustained a serious cervical spine injury with quadriplegia (paralysis of arms and legs).
He was referred to the Spine Department of Paras Hospital where the doctors performed a set of surgeries on his neck.
"Since the right treatment began within a few hours of injury, it proved crucial to the final outcome. After stabilising his condition with medicines, we assessed it to be a dislocation of C4-5 vertebra in the neck causing damage to the spinal cord that led to the paralysis.
"Sachin was operated the very next morning and underwent two spine surgeries at the same time -- one from the front of neck and another from the back. After the surgeries, Sachin showed a remarkable improvement within the next 24 hours, and has continued to improve ever since. All his four limbs have started moving," said Dr Arun Bhanot, chief of spine services at the hospital.
Within three days of the operation, Sachin regained enough strength in his legs allowing the doctors to make him stand by his own. With both age and will power on his side and accurate medical help, Sachin managed to achieve a fete that surprised even his doctors.
"A spine or brain injury is one of the most critical injuries since it impacts the entire central nervous system. Unlike an injured hand whose impact is limited to just itself, an injured spine may leave a person paralysed for life.
"Chances of recovery in such injuries is abysmally low even at the best of centres in the world. Prompt and proper treatment made the whole difference between him remaining paralytic for his whole life or recovering and being able to walk by himself," said Dr Sandeep Singh, senior consultant of spine services at the hospital.
The episode also highlights the untold story of several athletes in India who have suffered a life-jolting spine injury, and failed to recover because of factors such as lack of adequate medical facilities, delay in referrals, and paucity of high quality spine surgeons, said Bhanot.
