reconstructive plastic surgery - Macquarie University Hospital

PlASTiC SuRGEOnS AT
MACquARiE uniVERSiTY
HOSPiTAl HAVE PlAYED A kEY
ROlE in SAVinG AnD EnHAnCinG
THE quAliTY Of lifE Of CHARliE
AbDAllAH wHO SuffERED
MASSiVE injuRiES AfTER A CAR
ACCiDEnT in 2003.
When Charlie Abdallah had a car accident
almost nine years ago, he suffered multiple
and extremely serious injuries. The injuries
were primarily internal abdominal injuries –
failed kidneys, bowel and bladder, as well as
collapsed lungs. Compromised blood supply
to the right leg eventually led to a
hindquarter amputation.
“Basically, everything stopped working,
except my heart and my brain,” said Charlie.
“I have no recollection of the accident. I only
remember waking up in intensive care after
about a month.”
Charlie stayed in liverpool Hospital for a year
and nine months, spending nine months in
intensive care and a year on the wards.
Since then, he has had twenty additional
surgeries. Some have been elective, some
emergency. Many of them have involved
reconstructive plastic surgery, attempting to
close large wounds or lessen the build-up of
scar tissue.
Associate Professor Anand Deva, Head of
Plastic Surgery at Macquarie University
Hospital, has been actively involved in
Charlie’s case since the night he was first
admitted to hospital.
Part of the team who worked hard to get
him through those initial weeks, Professor
Deva said that Charlie is one of the sickest
patients he’s seen who has gone on to
survive so remarkably.
“Whilst I was consulted when he first came
in, my first major involvement with Charlie’s
recovery was in 2004, when we attempted
to heal the abdominal and pelvic wounds
that had not closed since the accident,” said
Professor Deva. “Because urine and bowel
contents were leaking through the wound,
it became a matter of priority to look at
ways of closing these wounds.
“To accelerate healing, the team used a
vacuum sponge dressing, a relatively
new technology used to treat chronic,
non-healing wounds. This provided a rapid
closure and healthy bed on which to place
skin grafts, which ultimately achieved
complete healing and prevented further
loss of blood and body fluids.”
The plastic surgery team later operated to
provide padding to Charlie’s pelvic area to
allow him to mobilise on a wheelchair.
Professor Deva also performed a cosmetic
nose operation to correct the appearance
and function of Charlie’s nose, which was
fractured during the accident.
Their biggest challenge came with the most
recent operation, performed at Macquarie
University Hospital early in 2011. The
operation involved two procedures
simultaneously: an ileostomy reversal and
an abdominal reconstruction to address
abdominal hernias that had resulted from
loss of the majority of Charlie’s abdominal
muscle and skin.
5