Doc uses unconventional procedure to save school kid

The tension filling the hospital was palpable, as the headmaster and 15 of his school staff prayed for the survival of a student.

The 15-year-old student was critically injured in a stabbing incident at the school as his fellow pupils watched helplessly.

Getting him alive from the hospital was a matter of reputation for the private school located in Bilekahalli, off Bannerghatta Road. In the end, an unconventional procedure by a quick-thinking doctor saved the boy, who is already back at school.

Rithik (name changed) received a serious injury to the left side of his neck in the stabbing incident. By the time he was rushed to Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta Road, he had lost three litres of blood.

“He was referred from another hospital, but he reached us within 45 minutes after the incident,” said Dr Sunder Narasimhan, senior consultant, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Apollo Hospitals.

“The hospital that first treated him had sutured the wound from the outside to minimise the bleeding. The boy was in a state of shock when he came to us. His life couldn’t be saved without stopping the bleeding,” Dr Narasimhan said.

A CT scan revealed that the bleeding happened due to a severed artery. “His BP was only 50 mm of mercury as against the normal rate of 120 mm. This was an artery that supplied blood to the back of the brain responsible for vision. He was at a risk of paralysis,” Dr Narasimhan said.

When the usual procedures failed, Dr Narasimhan used the coil embolisation procedure to stem the bleeding. “This is a non-conventional way of treating an injury like this,” he said.

A complaint has been lodged with the Mico Layout police station regarding the stabbing incident on September 3. A fellow student who carried a kitchen knife brought from home had attacked Rithik as he was filling water at school.

“The accused said there was hearsay that Rithik planned to beat him with a few other school boys. The accused came to school the following day with a knife that he kept in his pocket. Following a heated argument, he stabbed Rithik in the neck, causing a life-threatening injury,” a policeman said.

Sources said the accused and Rithik fought over the selection to the school cricket team.

“The school staff was waiting at the hospital, pleading with me to save the child. The parents fell at my feet, asking me to save him. It was a tense moment for me,” Dr Narasimhan said.