Above-Knee Amputation
A 14-year-old girl, was riding in a civilian bus when it ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) - a homemade bomb. She suffered massive damage to both legs. Surgeons performed a below-knee amputation on her right leg, but her left leg was more severely damaged. With skin and soft tissue loss, a below-knee amputation was not feasible for her left leg.Surgeons ultimately decided to perform an above-knee amputation. Ara K.’s injuries were so proximal, surgeons obtained control of her femoral artery just proximal to the bifurcation and passed vessels loops around it in case she started to hemorrhage massively from her wounds. Care was taken to keep the tourniquet in place and prep it into the surgical field so that controlled release during surgery could be performed. Her condition was maintained and stabilized 👏
Poor girl. Innocent yet caught in the woes of war!!
Unfortunate victim of war, worried about her, but in order to save such poor things, we choose the profession of a doctor and take the Hippocratic Oath!
