City docs reconstruct Yemeni war victim’s lower jaw

Seventeen-year-old Hussain, a war victim from Yemen had lost his lower jaw (mandible) in a bomb blast in his country. However, with the help of doctors from the city, his lower jaw was naturally reconstructed harvesting his bone and stem cells.

Hussain could not close his mouth and had difficulty in swallowing due to lack of skeletal support. Despite undergoing multiple reconstructive surgeries and visiting various countries for the same, he finally found some relief at the Manipal Hospital in Malleswaram.

Nisha Shetty, consultant Facio Maxillary surgeon at the hospital who treated Hussain said,” Hussain’s previous surgeries left very little opportunity for us. He had undergone grafting, both fibulaes (lower limbs) were used and multiple soft tissue grafts were harvested to perform surgeries; it was difficult to reconstruct his jaw again,” she added.

After thorough planning, the doctors from Manipal Hospital used 3D scanning and printing to reconstruct the mandible. With the help of Hussain’s stem cells, hip bone (illium) and bone graft impregnated into a 3D printed model, a customised prefabricated mandible was fixed to his residual bone.

Hussain was 17 when he lost his jawbone in a blast, and had undergone 9 surgeries across the globe. After 3 years, he visited Manipal hospital where his mandible was naturally reconstructed using his stem cells. Hussain had to wait for three months for his mandible to grow.