BRAIN SURGEONS FROM PLEVEN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CONDUCTED A UNIQUE OPERATION

A unique operation was made by neurosurgeons in the University multispecialty hospital in the Northern Bulgarian city of Pleven. Thanks to their efforts, a patient survived after undergoing a surgery for removal of a stick stabbed in his head.

57-year-old Trifon Ignatov was brought to hospital in a coma, after a tragic accident in the garden of his house in the village Dermantsi, Lovech district. He tripped and fell on a bamboo stick, which was attached to the garden flowers to support them.

Assoc. Prof. Yordan Panov, Head of Department of Neurosurgery at University Hospital in Pleven explained that the stick penetrated very deep in the brain. It slided close to the optic nerve and the largest blood vessel feeding the brain. The injury caused rapidly increasing bleeding. A lifesaving operation followed in which the stick was carefully removed. Prof. Panov said that the stick penetrated at a depth of 15 cm, which was the whole diameter of the skull and the brain in practice. It was unique that there were no heavy injuries to cause disability of the patient. Even the eye sight of the left eye was preserved.

Two weeks after the incident and the follow-up operation, Trifon can move his limbs and makes first attempts to walk alone in the hospital room.

His wife says this is unheard and unseen. Most importantly is that he is already conscious, moves, talks, understands me when I speak and I hope he will recover fully, she said.

Assoc. Prof. Panov says that so far there has not been such case and it will be presented at prestigious international medical forums.

Trifon’s fate is unique also because five years ago he refuted medical predictions. He recovered after a surgery for larynx cancer although doctors’ prognosis for his survival were for 6 months.