Grasshopper
03-27-2005, 06:37 PM
Vietnamese kid in Australia:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12674042-1245,00.html
Boy's leg, arms re-attached
By Paige Taylor
March 28, 2005
SURGEONS have re-attached a leg and two arms to a 10-year-old boy after he lost them in a basketball accident.
Terry Vo was swinging on a basketball hoop at a friend's house in the northeastern Perth suburb of Dianella when the brick wall it was attached to collapsed on him on Saturday night.
Bricks and steel guttering guillotined his left leg between the knee and ankle, and each of his arms at the forearm.
The operation in Princess Margaret Hospital, lasting eight hours, is thought to be the first re-attachment in Australia involving three limbs from the same patient.
The surgeon who led the operation, Robert Love, said Terry was still anaesthetised in intensive care and did not know that the operation had been a success. He is due to wake up this morning.
"The amputated limbs were in a bucket. They were completely severed," Dr Love said.
"They were in an Esky on ice. The bones had been crushed off. It wasn't a clean cut. This is a very, very serious and very, very unusual injury."
Three surgical teams comprising three plastic surgeons, an orthopaedic surgeon, four trainee surgeons, and 17 other medical specialists and staff took part.
Doctors say the boy has a 90 per cent chance of regaining the use of his limbs but with restricted mobility.
Because his bones were so crushed by the bricks, doctors had to shorten each limb by 3-4cm.
Dr Love said the operation's success was due to the short time - less than two hours - between the accident and Terry's delivery to the operating theatre.
Terry's uncle Trung Vo said his nephew was a strong boy. "He is very lucky, too," he said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12674042-1245,00.html
Boy's leg, arms re-attached
By Paige Taylor
March 28, 2005
SURGEONS have re-attached a leg and two arms to a 10-year-old boy after he lost them in a basketball accident.
Terry Vo was swinging on a basketball hoop at a friend's house in the northeastern Perth suburb of Dianella when the brick wall it was attached to collapsed on him on Saturday night.
Bricks and steel guttering guillotined his left leg between the knee and ankle, and each of his arms at the forearm.
The operation in Princess Margaret Hospital, lasting eight hours, is thought to be the first re-attachment in Australia involving three limbs from the same patient.
The surgeon who led the operation, Robert Love, said Terry was still anaesthetised in intensive care and did not know that the operation had been a success. He is due to wake up this morning.
"The amputated limbs were in a bucket. They were completely severed," Dr Love said.
"They were in an Esky on ice. The bones had been crushed off. It wasn't a clean cut. This is a very, very serious and very, very unusual injury."
Three surgical teams comprising three plastic surgeons, an orthopaedic surgeon, four trainee surgeons, and 17 other medical specialists and staff took part.
Doctors say the boy has a 90 per cent chance of regaining the use of his limbs but with restricted mobility.
Because his bones were so crushed by the bricks, doctors had to shorten each limb by 3-4cm.
Dr Love said the operation's success was due to the short time - less than two hours - between the accident and Terry's delivery to the operating theatre.
Terry's uncle Trung Vo said his nephew was a strong boy. "He is very lucky, too," he said.