In Lviv, surgeons operated on a woman with Erles Danlos syndrome: details
The first medical association of Lviv
In Lviv’s St. Panteleimon Hospital, surgeons operated on a woman with the rare Erles Danlos syndrome. The fusion of her fingers occurred as a result of an unsuccessful surgical intervention.
As reported in the First Medical Association of Lviv, this genetic disease affects the development of connective tissue and occurs in only one person out of 100,000.
The patient is a 49-year-old woman from Lviv, Lesya Buchachka. As a child, she had an unfortunate fall, injuring both hands.
At the age of 17, seeking to correct the consequences of the fall, she decided to undergo surgery. However, the surgical intervention did not give the desired result and led to complications – the ring and middle fingers of both hands froze, stopped expanding, and later on they fused together.
“Scars on the palms immobilized the third and fourth phalanges, and over time the fingers, which did not extend at all, grew together. Modern techniques allow us to correct this defect,” – explained at the medical institution.
Only 30 years after the failed operation, Ms. Lesya again dared to seek help from doctors.
To restore the functioning of the hand, surgeons performed a complex operation using the flap method – a technique for restoring damaged tissues.
It was conducted in two stages. Doctors first freed soft tissues from scars and adhesions. Next, they took a flap on the radial vessel with the patient’s own soft tissue and thus closed the defect. The surgery lasted six hours and, according to the doctors, was successful.
Now the woman from Lviv is waiting for the same operation on the second hand.
Currently, the patient is undergoing rehabilitation in order to restore the functions of the muscles and tendons of the already operated arm, because they have atrophied over many years. This process will be long – the woman needs daily sessions with a physical therapist.
Mrs. Lesya cannot contain her emotions, because her dream will finally come true: she will be able to wear a wedding ring on her finger and get a manicure for the first time.
We will remind, there are doctors in Lviv “extended” the girl’s leg was 7 centimeters shorter than the other.
