Hyderabad: Seventeen-year-old R. Vaishnavi was admitted to the Prasad Hospital at Nacharam on a complaint of giddiness and weakness. How this led to a stage, in which her hand had to be amputated is the substance of her family’s complaint to the police and the State Human Rights Commission. The complaint was filed on Tuesday.
Vaishnavi’s complaint of giddiness and weakness was diagnosed as being due to very low levels of haemoglobin in her blood. To treat the condition, she was given blood transfusions on January 3. She later suffered a severe reaction, with redness, itching and vomiting. She was then moved to Apollo Hospital on January 4.
Apollo Hospital said in her medical record she had improper blood circulation in the periphery and had developed tetanus leading to gangrene. It has been revealed that Vaishnavi received an IV line to her left hand. It was the right hand that was amputated.
Prasad doctors maintain they had to use the left hand for an IV feed as her right hand, they say, showed multiple injection marks which they claim are signs from a previous treatment. Vaishnavi’s uncle, Shyam Sunder Rao says, “She was kept under observation on January 5 but on January 6, they told us that her hand has to be amputated as it was poisoned. We do not understand how the hand got poisoned.”
According to experts, amputation in young patients is due to trauma, or injury in the vein, which is often not identified or treated on time. Dr Alok Rath, a surgeon, said: “In young patients, we often see dry gangrene where there is loss of sensation at the tip of the fingers and toes, shooting pain in the limbs or hands and also a finger or toe becoming black.
When the patient comes with these symptoms, they are immediately put on antibiotics. Often, dry gangrene gets treated with medicines but there are cases where we have to remove a vein.”
Amputation is the last resort, taken to save a patient’s life. Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Sudhir Reddy, said, “Once the source is identified, say hand, limb or foot, it becomes very important to amputate it to save the life of the patient. There are cases of wet gangrene which spreads within 24 hours.”
The reason for death of the vein is usually trauma, or the patient is immunocompromised, or there is lack of proper blood supply to the peripheral regions such as the tips of the fingers and toes.
A senior doctor, who did not want to be named, said that if a patient is heavily anaemic she could be also immuno-compromised. “Women have heavy bleeding during their menstrual cycle, and some are not adequately nourished. These multiple conditions together would affect the vascular system and lead to vein death.”
Tetanus, which is stated to be the cause in the case sheet, occurs when there is an injury and the affected part is in contact with the road or contaminated soil. A senior doctor said,
“If it (the part in contact with the soil etc) has not been treated properly, it can lead to infection. Most people are mandatorily given tetanus shots after a fall or their history is checked for the injection. If it is given, then it works for a specific period.”
Nacharam police have taken possession of all the medical history and case sheets and the treating doctors have been asked to submit all crucial documents of various blood tests and other investigations that were carried out.
Gynaec and nurse caused baby death
A senior gynaecologist, Dr Amurtha Laxmi and nurse Jyotsna at a Kondapur area hospital have been suspended by after an inquiry found that a newborn had died due to their negligence, on December 6. According to sources from the health department, an inquiry found that Dr Laxmi was responsible.
A government committee was appointed after the death of the infant on December 6 and it was found the child had died due to negligence of the doctor and nurse during birth.
The baby didn’t get enough oxygen and the doctor was not able to save the child by providing emergency care. The mother survived.
The committee also recommended transfers of Dr Kalyani and and Dr Kalavathi who failed to react to the situation on time. Dr Prabhakar has been appointed as the new superintendent at the hospital.
