The Dhaka Times Desk If it was abroad, it could have been an extraordinary medical success story, but even after such a rare operation in our own country, there was no discussion about an extraordinary medical success. Today we bring you the full story from a doctor involved in the remarkable operation.
Dear reader, the incident took place in Habiganj, and the full description of the incident has come out in an article written by Dr. Fayad Mahmud, which has been published on a Facebook page called Doctors Cafe. We are publishing full text like author.
The incident happened in Habiganj. Attempt to murder. In the dark of the night, one of the opponents threw a fishing pole at the man in his fifties. The target was the chest. But the blow missed the target and directly pierced the man's left eye. The patient was taken to the local health complex with handcuffs and crutches. There the wooden handle was carefully opened. But the doctors there did not catch the rusty metal sharp part. The patient was sent to Habiganj District Sadar Hospital. Even there no attempt was made to extract the iron part. The patient was referred to Sylhet Medical College Hospital.
He was admitted to Sylhet Medical that night. However, he was quickly referred to the National Institute of Ophthalmology in Dhaka after the ward rounds in the morning. By then, however, the patience of a large number of relatives of the patient had broken. The doctors of Sylhet Medical College had to silently digest all these words, "Doctors of such a big medical college cannot remove a small iron from the eye, what country are we in?"
By the time I received the patient on emergency duty at the National Institute of Ophthalmology, it was evening. Many people with the patient. Everyone is now waiting for the sure treatment. I saw that the left eye was completely destroyed. I gently felt the corn embedded in the eye and saw that it was firmly embedded in the eye shell. After asking relatives about the length of the iron and the length of the embedded part, I strongly doubted that the iron had penetrated the eye socket or orbit into the protected vault of the brain. Its slightest careless movement can cause severe permanent damage to the patient, or even death of the patient. I referred the patient to Dhaka Medical Neurosurgery and wrote a referral. Now the relatives of the patient burst into anger. There was commotion and commotion outside. I called two relatives of the patient and explained the risk. Even though they understood, they vented their anger on me. They complain that they are not getting even the slightest treatment even after coming to the biggest eye care center in Bangladesh. They had to helplessly agree to their words. Alhamdulillah, finally they were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital without incident.
Then the real part of the story begins. A CT scan at Dhaka Medical Neurosurgery showed that the sharp part of the knife penetrated deep into the vault of the brain. The diagnosis in medical language is written - Penetrating foreign body 'TETA' in left eyeball and orbit which intracranially extends upto middle cranial fossa with supra-sellar region.
The patient was operated on the next morning. Department of Neurosurgery along with Department of Ophthalmology and Anesthesia jointly did this very complex work. To put it simply, the eye and head bone were pierced and removed, bringing the iron spike directly into sight, so as not to damage the brain in the slightest. The entire operation took four and a half hours. After the end of anesthesia, the patient was found to be completely healthy. It was a unique relief and gratifying news for the department of neurosurgery.
After seven days, the patient got a discharge from Dhaka Medical. The rest of the eye was referred to the Emergency Department, National Institute of Ophthalmology. Fortunately, he fell into my hands again. This time there are very few people with him. A smile on the faces of those who are there.
I thought the sequences from the beginning to the end. It was not impossible for the patient to die if the local health complex, Habiganj General Hospital, Sylhet Medical College and our hospital overcame the strong pressure of the patient's relatives to remove the iron. Sylhet Medical College and tertiary level hospitals like ours are the most difficult to refer. Perhaps no doctor in this country expects that one will give a little thanks to the doctors at every level for making the right decisions for the good of the patient despite the overwhelming human pressure.
The greatest sympathy is for the Department of Neurosurgery of Dhaka Medical College. May Allah reward them well. They have shown such an operation and teamwork that if this incident happened in a developed country today, it would have been reported in all the media. This success story was picked up by medical journals. But today maybe they will not get even a little thanks in their fate except for the exchange of smiles of satisfaction in their circle. Like countless other such cases, this patient's file will remain forever trapped in the pitch black room of the medical record room.
In the near future, the relatives of this patient who will return home after recovering from death may say, "what operation was done, the eye could not be saved".
(I have taken several pictures of the injured eye of the patient. I have not given them here because they are a terrible sight. I have given here some simple x-rays, CT scans and three-dimensional pictures of the skull-orbit). [Feature Image]
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Written by-
Dr. Fayad Mahmood
English 
Bengali