Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (GCRI) has yet again proved its capability and competence in the field. The experts re-installed the jawbone by Microvascular technique in a 4-year-old girl namely Zainab in Junagadh. The event is said to be noted for the first time in the nation as per the experts of GCRI.
The solitary surgery done by the doctors of GCRI becomes noteworthy as they implanted the jaw made from the leg bone of the girl through plastic surgery. The surgery’s success gave a new life to the cancerous patient.
Zainab a resident of Junagadh, Gujarat at the age of mere 4 years detected cancer in the jaw namely Sarcoma. It is a rare tumor found in the jaw; however, it was unduly shocking when this rare one was detected in a child, forging this the very first case in the nation. The tumor being extensively rare, was not been able to cure in various hospitals the family visited to get the treatment for the child. Nonetheless, experts from various hospitals suggested the treatment to be catered in Ahmedabad’s Civil Medicity’s GCRI.
Zainab at a very young age suffered from rare cancer and if the treatment would have taken long, there was a crucial chance of the cancer being extended across various parts of the body and treatment to be more epoch-making than after and thus brushing off the infected jaw was necessary.
Dr. Hemant Saraiya, a well-known plastic surgeon and an expert of Microvascular surgery at GCRI said “There was a thumping chance of cancer spread across the body if the cancerous jaw was not removed, and this could even lead to loss of child’s life. The most stimulating event was to re-implant the removed jaw of the child.”
He further said, “If another jaw was not implanted in the replacing of the removed jaw, there was a steep chance of disbalance in facial outlines. That can even prevail disbalance of teeth and thus the child will only have to rely upon liquid meal for the entire life. This can mentally and physically hinder the child’s growth in the worst position, and thus new jaw was constructed with many challenges to let her live a normal healthy life.”
The team of efficient doctors worked incredibly to construct the jaw from her leg bone as a child’s leg bone is too soft and thin to be cut with a handsaw and design into a jaw. During the process, if there persists any discrepancy of even 1 mm, that can result in a disbalance of jaws in the mouth. The re-installed jaw can even be dismantled if the thin nerve below the jaw bears a cut and that can fail the surgery entirely. However, these stimulating situations were overcome by fixing the jaw with 3 to 4 titanium plates along with 12-16 screws in the mouth.
The most demanding part of the surgery was when 3 hairline nerves of the jaw were connected with the throat and brain and the circulation of blood was to be observed. If this structure wouldn’t have been looked at with care, that could even result in blockage of various nerves in the line and decaying of the re-installed jaw. Overcoming all such massive boulders, GCRI’s Dr. Hemant Saraiya, Dr. Pritam, and Cancer specialist Dr. Umank Tripathi and team with their resourcefulness and greater efficacy made the operation successful and gifted Zainab a new life.
How was the operation done?
The team at first harrowed a hole in the throat to let the child breathe and then after the jaw with tumor was pulled out.
At the second stage, the team took the left leg bone along with blood capillaries and skin to design the bone into a jaw.
At the third stage, to fix the newly constructed jaw in the mouth, numerous titanium plates and screws were used. Afterward, the three hairline nerves of the flap were connected with the throat and brain with the help of a microscope, and with that, the blood circulation was regained.
The challenging surgery got success after large-scale hard work of 9 hours. In the coming time, with the help of physiotherapy, the patient will be guided to free up the facial features and jaws.
Under the leadership of CM Rupani and the state organization GCRI, the treatment worth Rs 8-10 lakhs was done free of cost for the child.
The Director of GCRI Dr. Shashank Pandya informed about the treatment being provided at a nominal cost or no cost to the Cancer-stricken patients with the best of technologies and high-tech machinery in the institute.
