For 8 years, 36-year-old Nadiia Shuliga had been suffering from unbearable pain – up to the point of losing consciousness. She had undergone more than 40 surgeries, none of which worked.
The woman had almost lost hope for a normal life, but she decided to turn to the reconstructive surgeons at St Panteleimon’s Hospital of the First Medical Association of Lviv, and they were able to help her.
Nadiia, a resident of the Lviv region, started having problems 10 years ago. She fell down the stairs, landed on both arms and suffered two open fractures. Unbearable pain began to torment the woman two years after the injury. At the same time, her fingers stopped bending.
“I didn’t know how to help myself. I have a big house, children, and I can’t do anything because I’m in pain. The pain was so bad that the heaviest painkillers did not help. There were times when I lost consciousness from the pain,” Nadiya shares her experience.
The woman sought help for years, underwent more than 40 surgeries on both hands, but to no avail. Until she came across a story on social media about a girl with a complex hand pathology who was helped by reconstructive surgeons at St Panteleimon’s Hospital. She turned to them.
After a thorough examination of the patient, the specialists diagnosed her with carpal tunnel syndrome. This is a pathology in which the median nerve, one of the three main nerves in the arm, is compressed. It was this compression that caused the appearance of multiple scars, which caused Nadiia unbearable pain. The doctors decided that they could fix everything and began to operate. First, the right arm.
“During the operation, we freed the tissues from scars and restored the function of the tendons. That is, with the help of special implants, we created artificial channels in the tendons themselves, which allow the tendons to move freely, and thus restored the function of flexion and extension of the fingers and relieved the patient of pain,” says Hnat Gerich, head of the Surgery Department at St. Panteleimon’s Hospital.
“I am extremely grateful for the help! You won’t believe it, but even after such a difficult intervention, I feel much less pain than I had been living with for 8 years. I have regained sensation in two fingers. Finally, I will be able to return to a full life,” says Nadiia with gratitude.
The patient still has rehabilitation ahead of her. A little later, the surgeons will perform the same procedure on her left arm. After her full recovery, the woman, who has been unable to work for years, dreams of finding a job.