Post News Network
Cuttack, July 19: In a first of its kind surgery, doctors at the plastic surgery department of SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here successfully conducted skin grafting on a five-year-old girl who had received severe burn injuries May 13.
According to sources, SCBMCH is the first government hospital in the state to conduct skin transplantation. Earlier, the complex surgical process was undertaken for a burn victim in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.
“In Bhubaneswar, a person had donated his skin for transplantation on his wife who had received severe burn injuries. Now, a woman has donated skin for her five-year-old daughter at SCBMCH,” said Arun Kumar Choudhury, head of SCB plastic surgery department.
Dibyanshi, the daughter of Prabhasini Panda of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi, had received severe burn injuries when her clothes caught fire from a diya during prayers in her house. Sources said, the minor girl had sustained 70 per cent burns before the fire was doused. Dibyanshi was initially admitted to the VSS Medical College and Hospital at Burla. The girl was subsequently shifted to the plastic surgery unit of SCBMCH. Doctors at the premier hospital had decided to conduct skin transplantation on the girl for quick healing, sources said.
“The girl’s mother has donated skin from her thigh for transplantation. The surgery was conducted July 4. Now, the girl is recuperating fast,” Choudhury said.
According to sources, the state government had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to the SCB to set up a skin bank for burn victims. “Our doctors have successfully transplanted the skin on the minor. We can treat similar burn victims once the skin bank is ready,” Choudhury added.