Salem GH doctors successfully extract knife that pierced five-year-old boy's cheek

Salem: Surgeons at the Salem Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital (SGMKMCH ) have successfully extracted a knife that accidentally penetrated a five-year-old boy's cheek, ultimately saving his life.

On May 5, Rohit, the five-year-old son of Thiagarajan from Salem, was playing at home when he unexpectedly fell on a kitchen knife, which pierced his left cheek . His parents rushed him to SGMKMCH.

"After receiving initial first aid, a CT scan of the brain and blood vessels was conducted, revealing that the knife had penetrated the facial bones and lodged at the base of the skull with grazing a blood vessel in the brain," said Dr Devi Meenal, dean, SGMKMCH.

The dean and medical superintendent Dr Rajkumar immediately formed a multidisciplinary medical team under the guidance of professor of neurosurgery Dr L Shankar. The team comprised specialists from neurosurgery, plastic surgery, paediatric surgery, radiology, anaesthesiology and ENT surgery.

The boy was taken into emergency surgery without delay, where the surgical team successfully removed the knife from the base of his skull without harming the blood vessel, thus averting a major brain haemorrhage and saving his life.

A post-surgery CT scan indicated a minor haemorrhage in the brain. Subsequently, the boy was moved to the High Intensive Care Unit (HICU) for treatment in collaboration with the paediatric department to prevent infection. He is being closely monitored.

Doctors confirmed that the boy is stable and out of danger. The prompt intervention and collaboration among the various departments at SGMKMCH were crucial in saving the boy's life, the dean said.