Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: It’s nothing short of a medical miracle!
A group of Israeli surgeons has successfully reattached a boy’s head to his neck after internal decapitation in June, the media reported on Friday.
Suleiman Hassan, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy from West Bank, who was hit by a car while riding his bicycle, underwent an extremely rare operation after his ligaments were broken, and the base of his skull severed from his spine’s top vertebra—in other words, his almost severed head was barely hanging from the neck.
When brought to Hadassah Medical Center, its surgeons undertook an extremely rare and complex operation, and successfully reattached the head to the body, the Jerusalem hospital announced.
Suleiman was airlifted to Hadassah Hospital’s trauma unit in Ein Kerem, where the doctors found that the ligaments holding the posterior base of his skull were severely damaged, leaving it detached from the top vertebrae of his spine. The condition, bilateral atlanto occipital joint dislocation, is commonly known as internal or orthopedic decapitation.
The injury is very rare in adults, and even more so in children.
“We fought for the boy’s life,” said Dr. Ohad Einav, the orthopedic specialist who operated on the patient together with Dr. Ziv Asa and a large operating room and intensive care team. The surgery was carried out in early June.
“The procedure itself is very complicated and took several hours. While in the operating room, we used new plates and fixations in the damaged area… Our ability to save the child was thanks to our knowledge and the most innovative technology in the operating room,” Dr. Einav said.
The boy was recently discharged with a cervical splint and will continue to be carefully monitored by the Hadassah staff.
“The fact that such a child has no neurological deficits or sensory or motor dysfunction and that he is functioning normally and walking without an aid after such a long process is no small thing,” Dr. Einav said.
A 2021 survey of studies on injury in children and adolescents found that 55 percent do not survive the initial injury, transport to the hospital, surgery, and recovery.
The surgeons also believe that his recovery was no less than a miracle as the boy only had a 50 percent chance of survival.
The extremely rare surgery needs specialized doctors, the doctor said, adding that the “large size of a child’s head relative to an adult means they are more susceptible.”
“This is not a common surgery at all, and especially not on children and teens. A surgeon needs knowledge and experience to do this,” he said.