Fabricating a functional nose

Doctors at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills, performed a rare case of nose implantation on a Tanzanian man, recently.

Dr Sudhakar Prasad, Sr. Consultant Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon, who performed this surgery, briefed media on Friday about the procedure.

“We implanted a fabricated nose, repaired to function, by painstakingly constructing it using skin, cartilage & blood vessels, from different parts of the body.

The patient lost his nose in a grievous assault and came to India after exhausting options elsewhere in the last two years since the incident. The patient is due for discharge now,” said Dr Prasad.

The serious assault with knives on the 46-year-old Sillah Kwahu, in September 2014 in Tanzania, led to defacement with multiple injuries and chopping off of the nose completely.

“Normally in such patients the obvious choice of treatment is the famous Indian rhinoplasty technique described by Sushruta in 600 BC.

Unfortunately, due to multiple knife injuries on his face, this treatment option was found to be inappropriate and the other regular options were ruled out too, one by one,” said Dr Prasad.

Dr Prasad and his team used "Pre-fabricated flap" technique to provide lasting relief to the patient. “This method combined the techniques of plastic surgery and micro vascular surgery.

In the initial stage with a combination of patient's forearm skin, cartilage grafts from ears and skin graft, a nose was moulded and cultured on the left forearm,” said the doctor.

Sillah said, “I feel better, my relatives on seeing the new nose said it's very good.”