Rare Surgery Saves Estonian's Life
The Hospital of Reconstructive Surgery in Keila has successfully carried out a rare form of tissue graft on a skull left exposed by deep burns, the first such operation in Estonia.
After receiving high-voltage burns in an accident at the beginning of the year, the 30-year-old man underwent six other surgeries at the North Estonia Medical Center for injuries on his arms and legs, Postimees reported.
Romek Märtsin, a surgeon with the Hospital of Reconstructive Surgery, determined that the best result might be achieved by transplantation of omentum, a fatty tissue covering intestines in the abdominal cavity.
"Skin cannot be transplanted directly onto bare skull; therefore, we considered laying a foundation of fatty tissue with good blood supply," Märtsin said. "Plastic surgery is an art of finding the most appropriate tissue to be transplanted to the injured area. A human being consists, as it were, of spare parts - usable in other places," he said.
