A 20-year-old lady with cancer of the bone, has reason to smile following the reconstruction and customization of prosthesis to restore her lower limb, in a surgical procedure that lasted 16 hours.
The lady believed she would lose her leg after doctors earmarked it for amputation. However, that quickly changed when doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) decided to undertake the first surgery of its kind at the facility to restore it.
A multi-disciplinary team consisting of highly trained specialists took 16 hours to remove the tumour on her lower thigh bone and bridge the gap left in the blood vessels with vascular graft which in turn restores blood flow to her limb.
“The patient is doing very well and recuperating at the Hospital. Her limb function has been restored using specialized prosthesis,” said lead surgeon Dr Nicholas Okumu.
Limb salvage surgery procedure which is only recommended after evaluating risk factors such as age, general health, type and location of tumour involves removing the cancerous tumour along with a margin of adjoining tissue followed by reconstruction of the limb both functionally and aesthetically to provide the best possible outcome for any patient.
KNH Chief Executive Officer Dr Evanson Kamuri stated that the facility remains dedicated to being the premier teaching and referral hospital in the country by adopting current technology and innovation to improve patient care.
While this is the first surgery of its kind conducted at the facility, the national referral hospital has done several re-attachment procedures.
In 2018, 17-year-old Joseph Theuri whose right hand was severed at the wrist while cleaning a chaff cutter was successfully reattached at the same facility.
In 2020, surgeons at the KNH also conducted a successful hand reattachment procedure on a seven-year-old boy whose hand was chopped off accidentally.
Benevolence Itachi had his hand chopped off on October 4, 2020, by a chaff cutter while helping his father in their farm and was immediately rushed to Nazareth Hospital which then referred him to KNH.
