In a story of incredible medical intervention, a man from Tamil Nadu has been granted a precious second chance at life thanks to a complex endovascular surgery performed at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode.
Prashanth, a 32-year-old from Tirupathur, was involved in a severe road accident in Kozhikode while en route to Sabarimala from Kannur. Tragically, he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt in the front seat of the vehicle at the time of the crash. The impact left him with multiple injuries, including fractured ribs and ankle bones.
His condition quickly worsened, developing severe breathing difficulties that led to his admission to the intensive care unit. A subsequent CT scan revealed the critical nature of his injuries: a significant tear in his aorta, the body’s largest artery responsible for pumping blood from the heart to every part of the body, including the brain. This injury was causing dangerous bleeding into his left lung.
Faced with this life-threatening situation, Prashanth was swiftly moved to the interventional radiology suite within the Radiology department. There, he underwent an advanced procedure known as ‘Fenestrated Endovascular Aortic Repair’ (FEVAR). This innovative treatment involves carefully inserting a stent graft through a tiny 6mm incision in the groin’s blood vessel. For certain complex cases, like Prashanth’s, a precisely engineered opening, or “fenestration,” is made in this stent graft, allowing another stent to be placed to safeguard vital side branches off the aorta.
Following the successful FEVAR procedure, Prashanth received further care from the Orthopaedics department to address his other fractures. We are pleased to report that he has since made a full recovery and recently returned home in good health. The dedicated medical team, led by M.P. Sreejayan, the hospital superintendent and Head of the Department of Surgery, and E. Devarajan, Head of the Department of Radiology, were instrumental in this life-saving effort.