Lviv doctors helped a 4-year-old boy with a rare defect of the musculoskeletal system – the fusion of the bones of the forearm. Specialists of St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital performed a unique orthopedic operation and gave the child back the opportunity to live a more independent life.
From birth, 4-year-old Artem from the Zaporizhzhia region could not turn his hands with palms up. It was difficult for him to play with peers. Moreover, the boy could not even eat in the usual way: because of the fused bones, it was difficult for him to lift food to his mouth.
Radioulnar synostosis is a congenital defect in which the ulna and radial bones of the forearm grow during fetal development. It is important to operate on such defects in children at an early age.
Due to the danger of constant rocket attacks, the parents did not dare to treat the child in Zaporizhzhia. For help, the family turned to the specialists of the Lviv Children’s Hospital of St. Nicholas.
Doctors of the orthopedic and trauma department resorted to minimally invasive intervention without the use of metal plates that fix the bones. Head of the department Halyna Gachkevich and orthopedic traumatologist Maryan Orach performed a derotational osteotomy first on one, and later on the other hand. Simply put, specialists cut the fused bones of each limb in turn and fixed them in the correct position by applying plaster bandages.
Six weeks have passed. Only now the doctors removed the bandages and examined the operated areas. We are satisfied with the result. Now Artemchyk can freely play with toys. The child already holds the cutlery correctly and can eat the candy by himself without additional effort.