3-year-old Dubai based boy saved after cooler faucet penetrated his skull

DUBAI: A three-year-old Pakistani expat life was saved by UAE doctors after a water cooler faucet penetrated his skull and injured his brain.

 

Asad Ullah was admitted in a critical condition to Rashid Hospital’s ER on April 4 with severe bleeding from his head.

 

Dr Mohammad Abdul Aziz Sultan Al Olama, the Consultant Neurosurgeon at Rashid Hospital, said.”The water cooler’s faucet went inside his brain after crossing his skull from the front of his head. After conducting a CT brain scan, we found a big piece of bone, which was around 6x7cm, inside his brain.”

 

 

He said the young boy’s situation was unstable because of a large amount of blood he lost.”We had to conduct an urgent operation to stop the bleeding. Along with the anaesthesia team, we were able to manage the bleeding but due to the child’s critical state, we left the bone in his brain and transferred him directly to the intensive care unit.”

 

After the child condition was stable the doctors conducted another surgery to remove the piece of bone. The doctors also removed more bone to make space for the swollen brain to relax. Soon after the surgery, Asad slipped into a coma for two weeks and when he woke up again, he underwent more surgeries at the hospital.

 

 

Dr Al Olama said.”The child went through many operations in 4 weeks. We conducted a cranioplasty, which is a procedure where the bone defect is reconstructed and an artificial bone is added to fill the defects after the fracture. A shunt insertion, which is a medical procedure that relieves pressure on the brain caused by fluid accumulation, was also conducted.”

 

 

Now Asad is able to laugh, see and move his move his limbs. Dr Al Olama said that he is recovering well and moving all his limbs but has some weakness, especially on the right side which is normal after such brain injuries.

 

 

“This child will require extensive rehabilitation to be able to stand and walk and the prognosis is good,” he concluded.