August 3, 2019
Less than six months after a young Mumbai girl was partially
paralysed in a fall while playing, she is walking again with no help thanks
to the right medical intervention at the right time. Doctors say this
underlines the need to operate on patients within the right time frame so the
injuries are not irreversible.
16-year-old Saloni Merchant was enjoying her vacations
playing in her building garden when she accidentally fell from a wall, 15
feet high. When she said she couldn’t walk or feel any sensation in her
legs, Saloni’s parents rushed her to a hospital near her home in Thane,
near Mumbai.
“Doctors told us she had suffered a spinal cord injury (SCI), had multiple
fractures and could not be healed”, recalls her father Suraj
Merchant. “They said she would be paralysed for life”.
The diagnosis came as a total shock for the family. “I had been playing
with her the whole day and she is our only daughter. I simply couldn’t
understand what had happened”, says Suraj. Doctors told the Merchants
Saloni’s case was ‘hopeless’. “No one would touch her”, he says.
The family had virtually given up until a conversation with a family friend
led them to Dr Priyank Patel. A spine surgeon, Dr Patel did
not believe that the situation was hopeless and asked the Merchants to shift
Saloni to Jupiter Hospital, a prominent medical centre in
Thane.
Tests showed Saloni had a fracture in her thoracic spine from the base of the
neck to the lower part of the rib cage and that neuro-circulation in the
lower part of her body was not functioning.
Dr Patel, who is also the honourary spine consultant for Nina
Foundation, has been a part of the NGO trustee Dr S. Y
Bhojraj‘s team.
The key to recovery immediate medical care. Saloni was paralysed because
the spine was shattered, and the spinal cord was out of alignment. She was
at a hospital where she was just lying around, and no treatment was being
done. We operated on her and realigned the spinal cord stablising it with
screws and a rod. We also removed broken bone pieces that were affecting
the nerve to set it free. – Dr Priyank Patel, Consultant spine
surgeon, Lilavati , Breach Candy and Jupiter Hospitals
This freed up the nerves and helped Saloni regain sensation. Next followed
aggressive neuro-rehabilitation therapy.
“The body has to understand once again how to function”, says Dr Patel.
The aim was not to make it functional but as close to normal as possible. For
the first three months after surgery, Saloni was put through a range of
therapies with devices like anti gravity treadmills. “This way the body
weight is taken away, your weight is drastically reduced and your weak
muscles kick in. Gradually muscles come back to normal”.
Saloni started showing visible improvement within days. In 10 days,, she was
up on her feet with the aid of a walker and was discharged from hospital in
four months. She has also regained urine and toilet control. Suraj cannot
believe the amazing turnaround. “It is unbelievable when I I see her
walking around today. Dr Priyank is God for me. I may have given birth to
her, he has given her a second life”.
Saloni’s story, says Dr Priyank, shows the importance of operating on
patients with such injuries immediately, something most families and even
many in the medical fraternity are unaware of.
“This kind of approach, where multiple experts come together is seen in the
West where patients with SCI are shifted to a trauma care centre”. In
Saloni’s case, the combined efforts of spine surgeon, neurosurgeon, and
urologist led to her recovery. “We have the same expertise as the West”,
says Dr Patel, “but awareness is not there. Take Saloni’s case for
instance. The Merchants are an educated family, but it took them two days to
get to me”.
Saloni is now in junior college and back to her usual routine. Her story hope
parents and doctors will serve as an example. “We want Saloni to be a
mascot, an example of how if an injury is sustained, it is important to seek
the right intervention at the right time, and not take a passive approach”,
says Dr Patel.
CONTACT: Dr Priyank Patel at +91-77009-99193. EMAIL toppriyank@gmail.com
