Hyderabad: SLG Hospitals saves life of 10-year-old boy after he accidentally falls from his apartment

HYDERABAD: Doctors at SLG Hospitals have successfully saved the life of a 10-year-old boy who accidentally fell from the sixth floor of his apartment building.

In a press release issued by the SLG Hospitals on Sunday, the doctors said that on June 1, 2023, a 10-year-old boy, Lohith, was rushed to the SLG Hospitals at around 3 pm after he accidentally fell from the sixth floor of his apartment building. The boy was unconscious, bleeding from the head and face.

The doctors said that Lohith's blood pressure was below recordable levels. He sustained severe injuries to his right thigh along with multiple fractures to his left hand and jaw bone. Doctors, after performing various tests, also identified clots in his brain on both sides and at that time hemoglobin was just 6gms, which was considered quite dangerous.

Informing the patient’s condition and the treatment protocols followed by the doctors, SLG Hospitals Senior Neurosurgeon and HOD (Neuro Surgery) Dr. Ranganadham said, “Considering the fact the brain was not responding in the initial phase, we started with blood transfusion which continued for about five days. With conditions not improving much, on the evening of day-five, we performed emergency surgery to remove broken bone pieces from the right brain."

Ranganadham said that the dura mater, the outer, thick, strong membrane layer located directly under the skull and vertebral column, was opened surgically, to release the brain pressure and to drain the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a clear, colourless, watery fluid; along with this external ventricular drainage (EVD) was also performed. This process eased pressure in the brain, and these steps helped the child’s condition improve slowly, he said.

“Five days after the surgery, the boy opened his eyes. Post the surgery to the brain, orthopedic surgery is performed on his thigh and hand to treat the fractures. A tracheostomy is performed to deliver oxygen to the lungs, as the patient has been unable to breathe normally since the accident. Faciomaxillary surgery is performed to cure the broken jaw and other aspects of the face. And after about three weeks the boy was finally able to move,” Ranganadham said.

Lohith's father, G Rajesh, said that the boy was discharged from the hospital on July 1, 2023 and was kept under constant watch remotely for the next five weeks, to ensure his recovery was complete. Now the boy was able to move with support and his condition would be improved further in the coming days, he said.