Iraqi soldier undergoes abdominal reconstructive surgery

An Iraqi soldier, who was grievously injured in a bomb blast, underwent a 13-hour long free-flap abdominal reconstructive surgery at a city hospital here.
The 36-year-old solider, Khalid (name changed), approached doctors at Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh on June 26 with multiple injuries.
He had undergone an earlier abdominal surgery for removal of the intestine with permanent colostomy on anterior abdominal wall in his country. His right lower leg had also been amputated at pelvic level," Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery HoD at the hospital Dr Richie Gupta said.
On June 28, he underwent surgery for the correction of the huge anterior abdominal wall hernia that was covered with a thin layer of skin.

The patient remained on a ventilator for three days and was recovering well.
After analyzing the situation, the doctors took the free muscle and skin flap from the right side of his back and the vessels were joined using a microsurgical technique.

According to Dr Pradeep Jain, the hernia was gradually increasing in size, causing severe pain to the patient.
In an another case, doctors removed a large tumour of abdominal wall from an Afgan national on June 13.
In previous surgery done in Kabul, the surgeons were unable to remove it fully.
"To decrease the chance of recurrence, the tumor had to be removed with a wide margin (excessive amount of normal skin, muscles and abdominal wall to be removed around the tumour - 5 cm all around).

"As a result the final defect in abdominal wall would have become huge in the future if not treated immediately and could not be covered simply by stretching or transposing local tissue," Dr Gupta said.
The complex surgery took 10 hours. The patient was discharged after ten days. He is recovering well and is all set to go home.