New Delhi: A 23 yr old boy from New Delhi recently died after his mother gave him an oil massage on his injured ankle.
The deceased boy injured his left ankle while playing badminton last year. A plaster of paris slab was placed on the injured leg to avoid any further leg movement, resulting in a blood clot in deep veins.
The post mortem conducted by the AIIMS doctor says the instant death was due to that clot which travelled due to the massage, from his ankle to the pulmonary artery that supplies blood to the lungs. The clot was 5X1 cm in size.
The doctor said when the 23-year-old was rushed to AIIMS emergency at 9.30pm on October 31 he was unconscious and unresponsive. “Doctors could not revive him despite the best resuscitative efforts. Later, it was found that the victim’s mother had given him a massage for 30 minutes and he complained of pain in the left calf at around 8.45pm. That left him breathless and he suddenly collapsed. This was because the clot in his leg travelled to the arteries that supply blood to the lungs,” Dr Behera explained.
Deep vein thrombosis or presence of a blood clot in the deep veins following an ankle fracture is not uncommon but sudden death of a youth because of the complications arising from it is rare, said Dr Chittaranjan Behera, who conducted the postmortem on him.
The youth’s case report was published in the latest issue of Medico-Legal Journal.
It stated that massages are often given for general fitness and for treating minor health problems. “In this case, the deceased’s mother had massaged the leg to alleviate pain and was unaware of the complications. There was no advice recorded in the hospital by the doctors about the risks and dangers of a massage to this affected leg. This advice should have been provided” .
Dr Sudhir Gupta, professor and head of forensic medicine at AIIMS, said the youth’s death should serve as a warning against massages by amateurs. “Using forceful techniques and for prolonged periods in a patient with deep vein thrombosis can lead to fatal complications”, as reported in Times of India.