A 15-year-old boy from Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, has recovered after surviving a fall from the 18th floor and undergoing nearly two months of treatment at Yashoda Medicity, Indirapuram.
He was brought to the hospital in hypotensive shock, with severe blood loss and extensive injuries to the spine and spinal cord, chest and lungs, liver, limbs and soft tissue.
He required immediate intubation, ventilatory support, multiple blood and fluid transfusions and inotropic drugs to stabilise his condition.
Doctors at Yashoda Medicity found a fractured and dislocated spine with cord injury, haemothorax (blood accumulation in the space between the lungs and chest wall), multiple rib fractures, liver injury, fractures of the right arm and left leg, a large scalp laceration, nasal fracture and extensive degloving injuries involving the gluteal region and right thigh.
The severity and complexity of the injuries required coordinated management by multiple specialities, including neurosurgery, orthopaedics, plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery, critical care, respiratory medicine and cardiology, alongside other supporting departments. The teams worked together to assess and stabilise the patient, perform surgical interventions and monitor his condition throughout treatment.
As his condition was too critical to undergo multiple procedures at once, the treating teams had to prioritise the injuries requiring the most urgent intervention
How the Treatment Was Carried Out
Following a detailed discussion with the family and obtaining high-risk consent, Dr Rajinder Kumar, principal director and unit head, Neurosurgery, Yashoda Medicity, along with the multidisciplinary trauma and surgical teams, performed spinal fixation as the first major procedure.
The remaining injuries were treated through staged interventions as the teenager’s condition stabilised.
Kumar said, “This was an extremely high-risk trauma with multiple life-threatening injuries and severe blood loss. The biggest challenge was deciding what needed to be addressed first while the patient was in profound shock.”
“Given the spinal fracture, dislocation and cord injury, spinal fixation was the most urgent intervention to protect the spinal cord, despite his unstable condition. Once the spine was stabilised, we could take up the other injuries in a staged manner, allowing the patient to tolerate each procedure safely. The complexity of the case required close monitoring and constant coordination between multiple specialties throughout his treatment,” he added.
Subsequent procedures included orthopaedic fixation of multiple fractures, repair of the scalp laceration and management of the nasal fracture.
The orthopaedics team, including Dr Brajesh Koushle, director and unit head – Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine, Yashoda Medicity, managed the multiple fractures and performed at least four additional revision procedures.
The extensive degloving injuries required repeated wound dressings and further surgical interventions. The spinal wound was also re-explored and revised at a later stage.
Throughout the prolonged treatment, the Paediatric ICU team, including Dr Karan Ahluwalia, senior consultant, Paediatric Intensive Care, and Dr Anuj Dhyani, consultant, Paediatric Intensivist, Yashoda Medicity, supported the teenager during the critical care phase and helped manage complications that arose during his recovery.
Dr Shobhit Sharma, principal consultant, Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Yashoda Medicity, said the extensive soft tissue injuries posed a significant challenge during the patient’s recovery.
“Along with the nasal fracture, the large degloving wounds required repeated dressings, close monitoring and revision procedures as the wounds evolved. Managing these injuries while the patient was undergoing treatment for multiple other life-threatening conditions required careful coordination with the other specialities,” he said.
The patient’s clinical course was further complicated by medical conditions that required continued critical care and specialised infection management.
After nearly two months of hospitalisation, the teenager was discharged and will continue with follow-up care and rehabilitation.
According to the hospital, the case highlights the importance of rapid stabilisation, timely specialist intervention and coordinated multidisciplinary care in managing critically injured patients.
